FCC Spectrum Auction Bidding Procedure Summary

On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission released a public notice titled Auction of 700 MHZ Band Licenses. This document describes the bidding procedure for the 214 companies that have qualified for the auction, which will be handled by the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB). The WTB is one of seven FCC Bureaus and is responsible for all FCC domestic wireless telecommunications programs and policies.

Here's a summary outline of the procedure pulled from the 12 page FCC document:

1. Bidding in Auction 73 is scheduled to begin on Thursday, January 24, 2008.

2. Each qualified bidder will receive prior to January 24:
   
   • At least two RSA SecurID tokens
   • An Integrated Spectrum Auction System (ISAS) Bidder’s Guide
   • A FCC Auction Bidder Line phone number

3. The FCC will conduct the auction over the Internet and telephonic bidding will also be available. In either case, each authorized bidder must have his or her own SecurID token.

4. There will be a minimum opening bid amount for each license and package and the minimum opening bid amount is subject to reduction at the discretion of the WTB. The WTB will not entertain requests to lower minimum opening bid amounts.
   

5. The WTB has established the following block-specific aggregate reserve prices for Auction 73:
   

   • Block A, $1.807380 billion;
     
   • Block B, $1.374426 billion;
     
   • Block C, $4.637854 billion;
     
   • Block D, $1.330000 billion;
     
   • Block E, $0.903690 billion.

6. If, at the close of bidding in Auction 73, the aggregate reserve price for the A, B, C and/or E Blocks has not been met, the WTB will issue an announcement that bidding in Auction 73 is closed and set a date for commencement of Auction 76.

7. Round results will be available approximately 10 minutes after the close of each round. and two types of reports will be available to bidders: (a) publicly available information, and (b) bidder-specific information available only to that bidder when logged in to the FCC Auction System.

8. Each qualified bidder will have a default watchlist that contains every license and packages of licenses selected on the bidder’s short-form application. Qualified bidders may also create custom watchlists.

9. On Tuesday, January 22, the WTB will conduct a mock auction, which will allow qualified bidders to familiarize themselves with the FCC Auction System. Only qualified bidders will be permitted to participate in the mock auction.
   

10. Once winning bids are announced (either after Auction 73 or Auction 76) and winning bidders are announced, winning bidders will have 10 business days to file a long-form application (FCC Form 601) and make down payments for all of the licenses it won.
    

These are only highlights - please refer to the PDF document for details.

It will likely be early March before spectrum winners are announced by the FCC.