PUBLIC NOTICE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 1919 M STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554 News Media Information: (202) 418-0500 Fax-On-Demand: (202) 418-2830 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov ftp.fcc.gov DA 97-2222 October 17, 1997 AUCTION OF SPECIALIZED MOBILE RADIO SERVICES 61 Qualified Bidders Report No. AUC-97-16-F (Auction No. 16) This Public Notice identifies the 61 applicants who have been found qualified to bid in Auction No. 16 for 525 800 MHz Specialized Mobile Radio licenses, which is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, October 28, 1997. This Public Notice contains bidding instructions and other important information regarding the auction. Attachment A lists each of the 61 qualified bidders. Attachment A also lists each qualified bidder's upfront payment and maximum eligibility in bidding units. Attachment B lists the licenses that were listed on each qualified bidder's FCC Form 175. On Attachment B, an asterisk indicates that an applicant has filed an application that includes a waiver request. Attachment C lists those applicants who submitted FCC Form 175 applications, but did not qualify to bid in this auction. In order to participate effectively in the auction, qualified bidders should re- familiarize themselves with the auction rules and other information contained in the Public Notices released for this auction. The following information provides additional guidance. Registration. Qualified bidders have been automatically registered for the auction. For security reasons, the Commission will confirm registration by two separate mailings of registration materials, both sent to the contact person at the address identified in the bidder's FCC Form 175. The two mailings will include the Bidder Identification Number, Login ID, Login Password and the FCC Account Number. Additional information will be included in both mailings, including remote bidding system software and other general information. Upon receipt of both mailings, each bidder should be in possession of the following information:  FCC Account Number (as assigned by FCC)  Bidder Identification Number (supplied by FCC mailing)  Login ID (supplied by FCC mailing)  Login Password (supplied by FCC mailing)  Remote bidding system software (supplied by FCC mailing) Any applicant listed as a qualified bidder in Attachment A to this Public Notice who has not received both registration mailings by noon, October 24, 1997, should contact the FCC at 888-225-5322. Callers should press the key for auction inquiries, and ask to speak to Kathy Garland. It is each applicant's responsibility to ensure that all registration information has been received on time. Lost Login IDs, Login Passwords and Bidder Identification Numbers can be replaced only at the FCC Auction Headquarters, located at 2 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E., Washington, D.C. If replacement is necessary, either an authorized representative or the certifying official (as designated on the applicant's FCC Form 175) must appear in person with two forms of identification, one of which must be a photo identification. Electronic Bidding Software. In order to bid electronically, each qualified bidder, who filed their FCC Form 175 electronically, must purchase the Commission's electronic bidding software. This software has been updated for the 800 MHz SMR auction. Bidders are advised to review the software manual included in the registration materials and participate in the mock auction to become familiar with this software. For software backup, bidders are advised to duplicate the software for use by authorized representatives at different locations. However, the FCC Remote Bidding System will not accept electronic bids from qualified bidders who are not registered purchasers of the bidding software. Bidding Contingency Plan. Bidders should develop comprehensive contingency plans they can implement quickly in case they experience difficulty participating in the auction. The FCC will correct any problems within Commission-controlled facilities. Bidders are solely responsible for anticipating and overcoming problems such as bidder computer crashes, local telephone service interruptions, adverse local weather conditions, unavailability of authorized bidders, or loss of confidential security codes. The FCC Remote Bidding System requires access to a 900 service telephone line. Bidders should verify in advance that the telephone systems they will be using to submit electronic bids permit access to 900 service telephone numbers, and should consult their telephone administrators if they need assistance. All filers, manual and electronic, will be supplied with a telephone number for telephonic bidding in their registration packet. This number can also be used by electronic bidders as an alternate method of bidding in the event they are not able to submit their bids electronically. Bidding Schedule. The schedule for Tuesday, October 28 will be: Bidding Period 9:00 a.m - 10:00 a.m. ET Round Results 10:00 a.m - 10:30 a.m. ET Bidding Period 2:00 p.m - 3:00 p.m. ET Round Results 3:00 p.m - 3:30 p.m. ET The schedule, beginning on Wednesday, October 29 and continuing until further notice will be: Bidding Period 9:00 a.m - 9:40 a.m. ET Round Results 9:40 a.m - 10:00 a.m. ET Bidding Period 11:00 a.m - 11:40 a.m. ET Round Results 11:40 a.m - 12:00 p.m. ET Bidding Period 2:00 p.m - 2:40 p.m. ET Round Results 2:40 p.m - 3:00 p.m. ET Bidding Period 4:00 p.m - 4:40 p.m. ET Round Results 4:40 p.m - 5:00 p.m. ET The FCC will set the pace of the auction based upon its monitoring of the bidding and its assessment of the auction's progress. Generally, at the end of each week of the auction, the FCC will announce the bidding schedule for the following week. Minimum Opening Bids. There will be a minimum opening bid in the 800 MHz SMR auction. See In the Matter of 800 MHz SMR Upper 10 MHz Band--Minimum Opening Bids or Reserve Prices, Order (released October 6, 1997). The minimum opening bids will be set at the upfront payment amounts specified in our Public Notice released August 6, 1997, and are subject to reduction at the discretion of the FCC. Bidders should be aware, however, that the FCC will not entertain requests to lower minimum opening bids. The agency will exercise its discretion, if at all, independent of any communications from bidders. Messages and Announcements. The FCC will post pertinent auction information as messages and announcements on the FCC Remote Bidding System, on its Internet site and on its Bulletin Board System (BBS). Bidders should check for messages and announcements each time they enter the Remote Bidding System, and should read this information carefully. Bidder Questions during the Auction. FCC auction officials and technical support staff will be available during the course of the auction to answer questions from bidders. Help can be obtained through the following telephone numbers: FCC Bidder Line Use telephonic bid number supplied in registration mailing FCC Auctions Division 202-418-0660 (legal or policy questions) FCC Technical Support Hotline 202-414-1250 Monitoring Round Results. Attachment E to this Public Notice provides instructions for reviewing and downloading round results, and other material related to the 800 MHz SMR auction released by the Commission during the course of the auction. Auction Tracking Tool. A software tool for tracking the progress of the auction will be made available via the Internet at http://www.fcc.gov/wtb/auctions/smr200u2.html and the FCC Auctions Bulletin Board System. The tracking tool is a Microsoft Excel v5.0 WorkBook, which runs on Microsoft Windows v3.1 and Windows for WorkGroups v3.11. With this auction tracking tool, bidders can import round results and analyze the bidding in the auction. Technical support for the tracking tool can be obtained by calling the FCC Technical Support Hotline. Please review the information included with the tracking tool README file thoroughly before calling technical support. User Requirements. This software is not designed for novice computer users. To be used effectively, you must have extensive experience with: * Microsoft Windows * Microsoft Excel v5.0 * the FCC simultaneous multiple-round auction format Software and Hardware Requirements. At a minimum, you will need the following: * Microsoft Windows v3.1+ or Windows for WorkGroups 3.11 * Microsoft Excel v5.0 or later * 8MB of available hard disk space * 16MB of RAM and a Pentium based processor are highly recommended Amendments to FCC Form 175s. Applicants are responsible for the continuing accuracy and completeness of information furnished in their FCC Form 175 and its exhibits. See 47 C.F.R  1.65. It is the staff's position that applicants should amend their applications within ten business days from the occurrence of a reportable change. Filers should make modifications to their FCC Form 175s electronically, and submit a letter briefly summarizing the changes to: Kathleen O'Brien Ham Chief, Auctions Division Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 with a courtesy copy to Alice Elder either sent to the same address or faxed to 202-418- 2082. As described in the Commission's rules, applicants may make only minor corrections to their FCC Form 175 applications; major modifications (e.g., changing the markets applied for, changing control of the applicant, changing the certifying official or signing a manual application) will not be accepted. See 47 C.F.R.  1.2105(b). Mock Auction. The FCC will conduct a mock electronic auction on Thursday, October 23, 1997 to allow bidders to familiarize themselves with the electronic bidding software and the new bidding procedures. This mock auction will be open only to qualified bidders. Pre-registration will not be required. This mock auction will include all 525 800 MHz SMR licenses, and will follow the rules governing the 800 MHz SMR auction. The program will assume that each bidder applied for 525 licenses and submitted upfront payments of $3,176,273, corresponding to 3,176,273 bidding units. The auction will simulate the start of Stage One, so bidders will be required to be active on at least 80 percent of their bidding units, or risk having a waiver automatically applied unless bidding eligibility is reduced. The mock auction will consist of four rounds, with the following schedule: Bidding Period 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. ET Round Results 10:00 a.m - 10:30 a.m. ET Bidding Period 11:00 a.m - 12:00 p.m. ET Round Results 12:00 p.m - 12:30 p.m. ET Bidding Period 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET Round Results 3:00 p.m- 3:30 p.m. ET Bidding Period 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. ET Round Results 5:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. ET Eligible 800 MHz SMR bidders who wish to participate in the mock auction must establish a PPP connection to the FCC Auction Network through either a 202-area-code number or a 900 number, as selected through the mock auction software. (The FCC encourages participants to test their ability to connect using the 900 number, in order to identify any potential problems such as a 900-number telephone block. There will be no access charge for the first minute of the 900-number connection time.) When participants establish the PPP connection and start the Mock Bidding System, they will register for the mock auction by entering their FCC Account Number. The Login names, Login passwords, and Bidder Identification Numbers (BINs) will be pre-filled. Note: Pre-filled codes are for the mock auction only. For the actual 800 MHz SMR auction, valid login codes and BINs will be mailed to qualified bidders with their registration materials. Remote bidding software for the mock auction will be available via the FCC's Internet and Bulletin Board System beginning October 21, 1997. See Attachment D for downloading instructions. This software is specifically designed for this simulation, and is not adaptable to any other FCC spectrum auction. As part of the software, the Commission has established a suggestion box and welcomes your comments regarding the software. For additional information regarding this Public Notice, please contact Ruby Hough or Alice Elder, Auctions Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at 202-418-0660.