Auction 92: 700 MHz Band

Summary

July 19, 2011 - July 25, 2011
Rounds:
30
Bidding Days:
5
Qualified Bidders:
19
Winning Bidders:
7 Bidders won 16 Licenses
Gross Bids:
$20,402,000
Net Bids:
$19,770,250
Maps & Band Plans
Cellular Market Areas (Metropolitan Statistical & Rural Service Areas) Map
Economic Areas including Gulf of Mexico Map
700 MHz Band
General Information
Related Auction: Auction 73: 700 MHz Band

7/28/2011
Winning Bidders

7/6/2011
Qualified Bidders

6/8/2011
Applications to Participate

3/16/2011
Procedures

12/15/2010
Comment Sought

Fact Sheet

Date:

Auction 92 began on 7/19/2011 and closed on 7/25/2011.

Licenses:

Block A: 2 Economic Area (EA) licenses
Block B: 14 Cellular Market Area (CMA) licenses
16 licenses total

Spectrum:

698-806 MHz band ("700 MHz Band")

Bandwidth:

Block A: 12 MHz (698-704 / 728-734 MHz)
Block B: 12 MHz (704-710 / 734-740 MHz)

Winning Bidders:
7 Bidders won 16 Licenses
Rounds:
30
Qualified Bidders:
19
Licenses Won:
16
Total Licenses:
16
Net Bids:
$19,770,250
Gross Bids:
$20,402,000
 
General information and associated licensing parameters are provided below. Public notices provide specific information regarding this auction. This fact sheet includes:
 

 

Key Dates

EventDate
Auction Tutorial Available (via Internet)
5/2/2011
Form 175 (Short Form) Application Filing Window Opens
5/2/2011; 12:00 noon ET
Form 175 (Short Form) Application Filing Deadline
5/11/2011; 6:00 p.m. ET
Upfront Payments Deadline
6/17/2011; 6:00 p.m. ET
Mock Auction
7/15/2011
Auction Start
7/19/2011
Auction Closed
7/25/2011

Licenses Offered

This spectrum is part of the 698-806 MHz band ("700 MHz Band"), which was occupied by television broadcast stations and was made available for commercial and public safety services as a result of the digital television (DTV) transition.
Auction 92 will include a total of 16 licenses. These licenses were offered in Auction 73 and remained unsold or were licenses on which a winning bidder defaulted. The following table describes the licenses available in Auction 92. For a complete list of the licenses available in Auction 92, see Attachment A of Public Notice DA 11-420 (pdf), released March 16, 2011.
BlockFrequencies (MHz)BandwidthPairingArea TypeLicenses
A698-704, 728-73412 MHz2 x 6 MHzEA2
B704-710, 734-74012 MHz2 x 6 MHzCMA14

Permissible Operations

The 700 MHz Band licenses may be used for flexible fixed, mobile, and broadcast uses, including fixed and mobile wireless commercial services (including FDD- and TDD-based services); fixed and mobile wireless uses for private, internal radio needs; and mobile and other digital new broadcast operations. These uses may include two-way interactive, cellular, and mobile television broadcasting services.
 

License Period and Construction Requirements

License Period. Initial authorizations will be granted for a ten year term. However, the license term will not exceed eight years if the licensee provides broadcast services, whether exclusively or in combination with other services.
Construction Requirements. For CMA and EA licenses offered in Auction 92, the licensees must provide signal coverage and offer service to (1) at least 35 percent of the geographic areas of their licenses within four years of the initial license grant, and (2) at least 70 percent of the geographic areas of their licenses at the end of the license term.
Licensees must file construction notifications, all necessary supporting documentation, and required certifications with the Commission to demonstrate compliance with interim and end-of-term construction benchmarks.
Any licensee that fails to meet the interim requirement within their license areas will have their license terms reduced by two years, from ten to eight years, thus requiring the licensee to meet the end-of-term benchmark at an accelerated schedule. For those licenses in which the end-of-term performance requirements have not been met, the unused portion of the license will terminate automatically without Commission action and will become available for reassignment by the Commission subject to the "keep-what-you-use" rule, 47 C.F.R. § 27.14(g).
 

Small Business Bidding Credits

Qualifying applicants in Auction 92 are eligible for a small or very small business bidding credit. A bidding credit represents the amount by which a bidder’s winning bids are discounted. The size of the bidding credit depends on the average annual gross revenues for the preceding three years of the applicant, its affiliates, its controlling interests, and the affiliates of its controlling interest, as well as the average annual gross revenues of any entity with which the applicant has an attributable material relationship, as defined by the Commission’s rules: 

Bidding credits are not cumulative. A qualifying applicant may claim either a 15 percent or 25 percent bidding credit on its winning bids.

Tribal Land Bidding Credit

A winning bidder that intends to use its license(s) to deploy facilities and provide services to federally-recognized tribal lands that are unserved by any telecommunications carrier or that have a wireline penetration rate equal to or below 85 percent is eligible to receive a tribal lands bidding credit as set forth in 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.2107 and 1.2110(f). A tribal lands bidding credit is in addition to, and separate from, any other bidding credit for which a winning bidder may qualify. A winning bidder need not qualify for a small business bidding credit to be eligible for a tribal lands bidding credit.
 

Incumbents

700 MHz band licensees must operate in accordance with the Commission rules to reduce the potential for interference to public reception of the signals of digital television (DTV) broadcast stations transmitting on DTV Channel 51.
 

Licensing Rules

47 C.F.R. Parts 1 and 27
Releases P

7/28/2011
PUBLIC NOTICE (DA 11-1269)
Auction of 700 MHz Band Licenses Closes; Winning Bidders Announced for Auction 92
Down Payments and FCC Forms 601 and 602 Due August 11, 2011, Final Payments Due August 25, 2011, Ten-Day Petition to Den Period, WTB provides details concerning Auction 92 winning bidders, payments, filing requirements and licensing matters.

7/6/2011
PUBLIC NOTICE (DA 11-1131)
Auction of 700 MHz Band Licenses; 19 Bidders Qualified to Participate in Auction 92
The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau identifies 19 applicants found to be qualified to bid in the upcoming auction of 700 MHz band licenses - Auction 92.

6/8/2011
PUBLIC NOTICE (DA 11-986)
Auction of 700 MHz Band Licenses; Status of Short-form Applications to Participate in Auction 92
The WTB announces the status of the 24 short-form applications received for Auction 92.

3/16/2011
PUBLIC NOTICE (DA 11-420)
Auction of 700 MHz Band Licenses Scheduled for July 19, 2011; Notice and Filing Requirements, Minimum Opening Bids, Upfront Payments, and Other Procedures for Auction 92
The WTB Announces Procedures, Minimum Opening Bid Amounts and Other Requirements for the Upcoming Auction of 700 MHz Band Licenses.

12/15/2010
PUBLIC NOTICE (DA 10-2298)
Auction of 700 MHz Band Licenses Scheduled for July 19, 2011; Comment Sought on Competitive Bidding Procedures for Auction 92
Copies of comments and reply comments filed in response to this public notice may be found by using the search function of ECFS under proceeding 10-248 or through the FCC Reference Information Center, which is located at the Commission's Headquarters.

Results (updated after each round)
Integrated Spectrum Auction System (opens new window)

Auction Seminar

Education