80 FR 81545 - Application Procedures for Broadcast Incentive Auction Scheduled To Begin on March 29, 2016; Updates and Other Supplemental Information

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 250 (December 30, 2015)

This document updates and supplements information on procedures for the Broadcast Incentive Auction.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 30, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81545-81546]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-32864]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[AU Docket No. 14-252, GN Docket No. 12-268, WT Docket No. 12-269; DA 
15-1428]


Application Procedures for Broadcast Incentive Auction Scheduled 
To Begin on March 29, 2016; Updates and Other Supplemental Information

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This document updates and supplements information on 
procedures for the Broadcast Incentive Auction.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, 
Auctions and Spectrum Access Division: For general auction questions 
contact Linda Sanderson, at (717) 338-2868; for reverse auction legal 
questions contact Erin Griffith or Kathryn Hinton at (202) 418-0660; 
for forward auction legal questions contact Leslie Barnes or Valerie 
Barrish at (202) 418-0660.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Broadcast Incentive 
Auction Supplemental Information Public Notice (PN), AU Docket No. 14-
252, GN Docket No. 12-268, WT Docket No. 12-269, DA 15-1428, released 
on December 21, 2015. The complete text of the Broadcast Incentive 
Auction Supplemental Information PN, including the attachments, is 
available for public inspection and copying from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
ET Monday through Thursday or from 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. ET on 
Fridays in the FCC Reference Information Center, 445 12th Street SW., 
Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554. The complete text is also available 
on the Commission's Web site at http://wireless.fcc.gov, or by using 
the search function on the ECFS Web page at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/. Alternative formats are available to persons with disabilities 
by sending an email to [email protected] or by calling the Consumer & 
Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 
(TTY).

I. Introduction

    1. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (Bureau) updates and 
supplements information provided in the Auction 1000 Application 
Procedures Public Notice (PN), 80 FR 66429, October 29, 2015. 
Specifically, the Bureau announces that the pre-auction process 
tutorial for the forward auction will be available by January 19, 2016; 
provides additional information concerning access to the Commission's 
bidding system (Auction System) for the reverse and forward auctions; 
provides additional details about the grouping of Partial Economic 
Areas (PEAs) in the assignment phase of the forward auction; and makes 
ministerial changes to two of the appendices released with the Auction 
1000 Application Procedures PN. All other dates and deadlines, as well 
as other application procedures, instructions, and information, remain 
as previously announced.

II. Tutorial on Forward Auction Pre-Auction Process To Be Available by 
January 19, 2016

    2. The Bureau will make available an interactive, online tutorial 
focusing on the pre-auction application process for the forward auction 
(Auction 1002) no later than January 19, 2016. The pre-auction 
application process tutorial will be accessible from the Commission's 
Auction 1002 Web page at http://www.fcc.gov/auctions/1002 through a 
link under the ``Education'' tab. Once posted, the tutorial will remain 
available and accessible on the Auction 1002 Web page anytime for 
reference.

III. Access to the Auction System for Bidding

    3. As previously described in the Auction 1000 Application 
Procedures PN, an applicant must have an FCC-provided SecurID[supreg] 
token to access the Auction System in order to place bids in the 
reverse or forward clock rounds, as well as to participate in any mock 
auction. SecurID[supreg] tokens will be distributed to applicants for 
the reverse auction prior to the deadline for initial commitments, and 
to forward auction applicants prior to the announcement of qualified 
bidders, to enable applicants with complete applications to practice 
with the Auction System. Each authorized bidder identified on an 
applicant's FCC Form 177 or 175 will be issued a unique SecurID[supreg] 
token tailored to that bidder. For security purposes, the 
SecurID[supreg] tokens, the telephonic bidding telephone number, and 
the relevant Auction System Bidder's Guide are mailed only to the 
applicant's contact person at the contact address listed on its auction 
application.

A. Reverse Auction Applicants

    4. Each reverse auction (Auction 1001) applicant permitted to make 
an initial commitment must do so in the Auction System using a 
SecurID[supreg] token. The Bureau will therefore provide 
SecurID[supreg] tokens prior to the initial commitment deadline.
    5. As explained in the Auction 1000 Application Procedures PN, an 
applicant will receive confidential notices concerning the status of 
its application and of each station selected on its application after 
the initial filing deadline (First Confidential Status Letter) and 
after the resubmission deadline (Second Confidential Status Letter), 
respectively. Each applicant whose application and at least one 
selected station have been deemed ``complete'' in the Second 
Confidential Status Letter will be permitted to make an initial 
commitment to a preferred relinquishment option for each complete 
station using a SecurID[supreg] token. Additional instructions for 
making an initial commitment will be provided to each applicant with 
one or more complete stations as an enclosure to its Second 
Confidential Status Letter.
    6. Once the initial clearing target has been determined based on 
initial commitments, an applicant that was permitted to make an initial 
commitment will receive a third confidential status letter (Final 
Confidential Status Letter) notifying the applicant for each complete 
station whether or not the station is qualified to bid in the clock 
rounds of the reverse auction. An applicant with one or more qualified 
stations will be eligible to participate in a mock auction prior to 
bidding in the clock rounds of the reverse auction. Additional 
instructions for participating in the mock auction and for placing bids 
in the clock rounds of the reverse auction, using the applicant's 
previously received SecurID[supreg] tokens, will be provided to each 
applicant that has at least one station qualified to bid. Any applicant 
with a station that is not qualified to bid in the reverse auction 
clock rounds will not be able to place clock round bids for that 
station in the Auction System.

B. Forward Auction Applicants

    7. As described in the Auction 1000 Application Procedures PN, an 
Auction 1002 applicant whose application has been deemed to be 
``complete'' will be eligible to practice with the Auction System prior 
to the mock auction that will be offered to qualified bidders. Any 
applicant that is eligible to practice with the Auction System must 
have a SecurID[supreg] token to log in. SecurID[supreg] tokens along 
with instructions for practicing with the Auction System will therefore 
be distributed to each applicant whose application is listed as

[[Page 81546]]

complete in a public notice to be released after the deadline for 
resubmitting corrected applications and prior to the announcement of 
qualified bidders in the Auction 1002 Qualified Bidders PN.
    8. Each applicant listed as a qualified bidder in the Auction 1002 
Qualified Bidders PN will be provided with additional instructions for 
participating in the mock auction and for placing bids in the forward 
auction using the applicant's previously received SecurID[supreg] 
tokens. Any applicant whose application was listed as complete after 
the deadline for resubmitting corrected applications that does not 
become qualified to bid will not be permitted to access the Auction 
System for bidding.

IV. Grouping of PEAs for Forward Auction Assignment Phase Bidding

    9. In the Auction 1000 Bidding Procedures PN, 80 FR 61918, October 
14, 2015, the Commission adopted procedures for assignment phase 
bidding which depend in part upon the Regional Economic Area Grouping 
(REAG) in which a PEA is included. The public notice indicated that, 
for the grouping and sequencing of PEAs in the assignment rounds, the 
PEAs in the six least populous REAGs will be included with the PEAs in 
one of the six REAGs that cover the contiguous United States. 
Attachment 1 to the Broadcast Incentive Auction Supplemental 
Information PN lists each PEA and the REAG with which it will be 
associated for assignment phase bidding purposes.

V. Corrections and Notifications to Technical Appendices

    10. The Bureau makes ministerial changes to two of the appendices 
released with the Auction 1000 Application Procedures PN. First, the 
Bureau corrects typographical errors in the text of APPENDIX D to the 
Auction 1000 Application Procedures PN. Specifically, in Section 5.5 of 
APPENDIX D, (a) the variable u and the variable s should be switched in 
much of the text in the section, including the examples, and (b) the 
variable t in Example 3 should be replaced by the variable s. The 
corrected text to Section 5.5 of APPENDIX D is shown in Attachment 2 of 
the Broadcast Incentive Auction Supplemental Information PN.
    11. The Bureau also notes that in Section 3.2 of APPENDIX E to the 
Auction 1000 Application Procedures PN, includes those Mexican stations 
that cause pairwise interference less than 0.5 percent to U.S. stations 
when placed on their future channel as specified in the Mexican 
Coordination.

Federal Communications Commission.
Craig Bomberger,
Deputy Division Chief, Auctions and Spectrum Access Division, WTB.
[FR Doc. 2015-32864 Filed 12-29-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P