Auctions Glossary

The 218-219 MHz Radio Service is a short-distance communication service designed for licensees to transmit information, product, and service offerings to subscribers and receive interactive responses within a specified service area. Mobile operation is permitted. Rules permit both common carrier and private operations, as well as one- and two-way communications. Potential applications include ordering goods or services offered by television services, viewer polling, remote meter reading, vending inventory control, and cable television theft deterrence.

The frequency range for the 39 GHz service is between 38,600 and 40,000 MHz. Point-to-point, point-to-multipoint, and mobile operations (after conclusion of a separate proceeding addressing interference issues) are allowed. This service can be used for a variety of applications, which could include, among other things, providing communications infrastructure for existing services such as broadband PCS, cellular, and other commercial and private mobile radio operations.

This band consists of thirty megahertz of spectrum, 747-762 and 777-792 MHz, previously allocated to television stations on Channels 60-62 and 65-67. This spectrum was reallocated for commercial use including fixed, mobile and broadcasting services. The potential to deploy new methods of providing high speed internet access is offered by this spectrum. It is also suitable for new fixed wireless services in underserved areas, as well as next generation high speed mobile services.

The band consists of five megahertz of spectrum which was reallocated for non-Government use. Licensees authorized in this service will be able to provide a variety or combination of fixed, mobile (except aeronautical mobile), common carrier, and non-common carrier services. The band is shared on a co-primary basis with the Federal Government and may be limited by geographic area, time, or other means. Operations in this band will be generally regulated under the framework of our Part 27 technical, licensing, and operating rules.

 

To ensure that an auction closes within a reasonable period of time and to increase the information conveyed by bid prices during the auction, the Federal Communications Commission utilizes "activity rules" which prevent bidders from waiting until the end of the auction before participating. Bidders are required to bid actively or be active (have a standing high bid) on a certain percentage of their bidding units (purchased by upfront payment prior to the auction) in every round. The required level of activity increases in each stage of the auction.

A broadcast station licensed for the dissemination of radio communications intended to be received by the public and operated on a channel in the AM broadcast band.

A measure of average price in dollars per pop in the auction, based on census data. The average price pop-weighted is calculated by dividing total auction revenue by the total population in the auction.

A geographic area, based on the Rand McNally 1992 Commercial Atlas & Marketing Guide, 123rd Edition, pages 38-39, used by the Federal Communications Commission to define the coverage of spectrum licenses for certain services. The United States is divided into 487 BTAs. The Commission has further defined 6 other BTA-like areas: American Samoa; Guam; Northern Mariana Islands; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Mayaguez/Aguadilla-Ponce, Puerto Rico; and the United States Virgin Islands, for a total of 493 BTAs.

Before the close of a bidding period, a bidder has the option of removing any bids placed in that round. By using the remove bid function in the software, a bidder may effectively "unsubmit" any bid placed within that round. A bidder removing a bid placed in the same round is not subject to withdrawal payments.

A percentage discount applied to the high bid amount for a license if the bidder meets specific designated entity criteria established in the auction rules. Bidders must apply for bidding credits when they file the FCC Form 175.

Operate in the 1850-1890 MHz, 1930-1970 MHz, 2130-2150 MHz, and 2180-2200 MHz bands. Broadband PCS provides a variety of mobile services that compete with existing cellular services.

 

See Component Economic Area.

An automated high-capacity system of one or more multi-channel base stations designed to provide radio telecommunication services to mobile stations over a wide area in a spectrally efficient manner. Cellular systems employ techniques such as low transmitting power and automatic hand-off between base stations of communications in progress to enable channels to be reused at relatively short distances. Cellular systems may also employ digital techniques such as voice encoding and decoding, data compression, error correction, and time or code division multiple access in order to increase system capacity.

Small businesses, businesses owned by members of minority groups and/or women, and rural telephone companies that meet size or other criteria established for specific services.

Each winning bidder in a typical auction must submit a down payment to the Federal Communications Commission in an amount sufficient to bring its total deposits up to 20 percent, or the amount specified in the auction procedures, of its winning bid within ten business days following the release of a public notice announcing the close of bidding. Upfront funds on deposit will be applied toward the down payment, after satisfying any withdrawal payments and/or defaulted net high bid amounts due. In certain auctions, e.g., where installment payments were permitted, bidders were able to break their initial down payment into two components: first and second down payments.

 

 

A ten digit number, assigned to bidders by the FCC upon filing of the short-form application, used to identify and track applicants and bidders.

After the initial deadline for filing FCC Form 175 applications has passed, the FCC will process all timely applications to determine which are acceptable for filing. Those applications that are "accepted" are complete and deemed accepted for participation in the auction. Those applications that are "incomplete" have minor defects that may be corrected, and the applicant will be given a chance to correct the application. Those applications that are "rejected" will not be able to participate in the auction.

Initial post-auction payment by an entity eligible to pay for a license(s) in installments. The amount of the first down payment is calculated as a specified percentage of the net high bid plus any applicable withdrawal payments for each license. After bidding has ended, the Federal Communications Commission will issue a public notice declaring the auction closed. Within a specified number of business days after release of an auction closing notice, each winning bidder must submit sufficient funds to bring the total amount of money on deposit with the government to a specified percentage of the sum of its net winning bids. The details of the amount and timing of the first down payment are auction-specific.

The area of service coverage by a telecommunications provider.

(short-form application) Initial application form which must be submitted by a bidder in order to participate in an FCC auction.

GWCS licensees may provide any fixed or mobile communications service except Broadcast services, Radiolocation services, and Satellite services on their assigned frequency. These include but are not limited to voice, video, and data transmission, private microwave, broadcast auxiliary, and ground-to-air voice and video.

The guard band manager is a new class of commercial licensee created for use in the Upper 700 MHz Guard Bands. Guard Band Managers can engage in the business of leasing spectrum to third parties on a for-profit basis, which can include both commercial service providers as well as private entities. The Guard Band Manager will be required to adhere to strict frequency coordination and interference rules, and control use of the spectrum so as to facilitate protection for public safety.

A measure of spectrum equal to one cycle per second (cps). One kilohertz (kHz) equals 1,000 cps; one megahertz (MHz) equals 1 million cps; one gigahertz (GHz) equals 1 billion cps.

Payments made after second down payment and license grant based on an amortization schedule for each license. Terms and conditions of installment payment plans are auction-specific.

(Currently known as 218-219 MHz Radio Service) A point-to-multipoint, multipoint-to-point, short distance communications service capable of providing information, products, or services to and allow interactive responses from subscribers in the licensee's service area. Operates between 218-218.5 and 218.5-219 MHz.

A measure of spectrum equal to one thousand hertz.

A point-to-multipoint microwave service that operates in the 27.5-29.5 GHz and 31.0-31.3 GHz bands. The technology developed for use in this new broadband service provides very high subscriber capacity for two-way video telecommunications. There is sufficient capacity in the proposed LMDS system designs to provide wireless competition to both local exchange carriers and cable television systems. In addition, based on the interest generated in LMDS by entrepreneurs in the United States, LMDS has attracted attention and support from both developed and developing countries around the world.

 

A station that may retransmit the programs and signals of a TV broadcast station and that may originate programming in any amount greater than 30 seconds per hour and/or operates a subscription service.

A geographic area established and used by the Federal Communications Commission to define the coverage of spectrum licenses for certain services. There are 52 MEAs, including 46 in the continental United States and 6 covering Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

 

A measure of spectrum equal to one million hertz or one thousand kilohertz.

Bid Once there is a standing high bid on a license, a bid increment will be applied to that license to establish a minimum acceptable bid for the following round.

MAS consists of spectrum in the 900 MHz band that is divided into three general categories: (1) the 928/952/956 MHz bands; (2) the 928/959 MHz bands; and (3) the 932/941 MHz bands. Certain channels in this service are licensed on a site-by-site basis, while other channels are licensed by Economic Areas (EA). The Multiple Address Systems Auction No. 42 Fact Sheet lists the frequencies that will be licensed by EAs. This service is available for the terrestrial point-to-multipoint and point-to-point fixed and mobile transmissions of a licensee’s products or services, excluding video entertainment material, to a licensee’s customer or for its own internal communications.

Operate in the 901-902 MHz, 930-931 MHz, and 940-941 MHz bands, using a smaller portion of the spectrum than Broadband PCS. Defined by the Federal Communications Commission as a family of mobile or portable radio services that may be used to provide wireless telephony, data, advanced paging, and other services to individuals and businesses, and which may be integrated with a variety of competing networks. For example, Narrowband PCS could be used for the development of advanced paging systems, in which pagers may become equipped with a small keyboard allowing the subscriber to both retrieve and send complete messages through microwave signals (e.g., wireless E-mail). Narrowband PCS licenses will most likely be used to provide such new services as voice message paging, two-way acknowledgment paging, and other text-based services.

The total net high bids for all licenses in the auction.

Transmission of coded radio signals for the purpose of activating specific pagers: such transmissions may include messages and/or sounds. Paging services operate in the 35-36 MHz, 43-44 MHz, 152-159 MHz, 454-460 MHz, 929 MHz and 931 MHz bands.

The pioneer's preference rules, which are no longer in force, formerly provided a means by which an applicant that demonstrated that it had developed a new communications service or technology might obtain a license to provide the new service or technology without being subject to auction as a way of awarding licenses among mutually exclusive applications. Under these rules, an applicant could receive a preference for a license if it demonstrated that it had developed the capabilities or possibilities of a new technology or service or had brought the technology or service to a more advanced or effective state. Such applicant for a preference was also required to demonstrate that the new service or technology would be technically feasible by submitting either the results of an experiment or a technical showing. The preference was granted only if the final service rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission were a reasonable outgrowth of the applicant's proposal and the new technology could be used to provide the service. After December 1994, Congress specified that entities awarded licenses pursuant to the pioneer's preference were required to pay, as a condition of license grant, a portion of the license's value, calculated according to 47 U.S.C. 309(j)(13)(B).

 

 

Those applicants whose FCC Form 175 applications have been accepted for filing and that have timely submitted upfront payments sufficient to make them eligible to bid on at least one of the licenses for which they applied. All qualified bidders are automatically registered for the auction.

A geographic area based on groupings of 172 Economic Areas (EAs) and 4 EA-like areas developed by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce, used to define the coverage of spectrum licenses for certain services.

An auction round consists of a bidding period and a round results period.

Second post-auction payment by an entity eligible to pay for a license in installments. Payment is made a specified number of days after notification by the Federal Communications Commission of its intent to grant or make conditional grant of license(s). Payment is a specified percentage of the net high bid of each license.

An auction design in which all licenses are offered simultaneously, in a series of separate rounds. If a simultaneous stopping rule is employed, bidding closes only after one round passes in which there are no new valid bids on any of the licenses, no proactive waivers are submitted, and no bid withdrawals.

Bases the bid increment for each license on a weighted average of the activity on that license in the most recently completed round and the activity on that license in all previous rounds. Simply put, when a license receives a substantial number of bids (three or more) the increment is higher, and when the number of bids decreases the increment is smaller.

The range of electromagnetic radio frequencies used in the transmission of voice, data and video.

Typically, a Federal Communications Commission simultaneous multiple round auction employs an activity rule which divides the auction into three stages. Each stage requires bidders to use a certain percentage of their total bidding units in order to maintain maximum eligibility (e.g., Stage I, 60% of their bidding units; Stage II, 80%; and Stage III, 98%). In a given stage, if a bidder's activity falls below the required level, an automatic waiver will be submitted on the bidder's behalf if the bidder has waiversremaining. If a bidder has no waivers remaining or elects to override the automatic waiver function, its eligibility will be permanently reduced to bring it into compliance with the activity rule.

Bidding procedure that enables bidders to place and withdraw bids by telephoning a Federal Communications Commission Bid Assistant.

The total of all net high bids plus withdrawal payments, defaulted net high bids, and pioneer's preference payments.

A station in the broadcast service operated for the purpose of re-transmitting the programs and signals of a television broadcast station, without significantly altering any characteristic of the original signal other than its frequency and amplitude, for the purpose of providing television reception to the general public.

Payment made by bidders prior to the beginning of the auction in order to establish the initial eligibility of a bidder, representing the maximum numberof bidding units on which the applicant will be permitted to bid initially. For more specific information regarding a particular service,consult applicable service rules and auction public notices.

Each bidder is provided a predetermined number of waivers at the start of an auction (e.g., five) that can be used during a bidding period to preserve bidding unit eligibility despite having an activity level below the required minimum. A waiver will preserve current eligibility in the next round and applies to an entire bidding round.
Proactive Waiver:A waiver submitted by the bidder during the bidding period. A proactive waiver (1) will preserve a bidder's eligibility in a round when the bidder does not meet the activity requirement, and (2) will keep the auction open in the event that no bids are placed in the round in which the proactive waiver is placed.
Automatic Waiver: A waiver applied automatically by the bidding system if a round closes and a bidder is below the required activity level. An activity waiver will not keep the auction open in the event that no bids or proactive waivers are submitted during the bidding period.