October 20, 1994 COMMERCIAL MOBILE RADIO SERVICE INFORMATION IMPORTANT BIDDING INSTRUCTIONS AND OTHER INFORMATION REGARDING THE AUCTION OF 30 REGIONAL NARROWBAND LICENSES The following information is provided to help bidders better understand the procedures for the regional narrowband PCS auction whether they are bidding on site in Washington or from remote locations. The auction will be held at the Postal Square Building, located at 2 Massachusetts Avenue (North Capital Street Entrance), N.E. Washington, D.C. During the auction, bidders will have three options for placing and withdrawing their bids. Bids may be submitted or withdrawn: (1) electronically on site at the Postal Square Building using the computer bidding terminals provided, (2) electronically from remote locations using the FCC Auction Line software and (3) telephonically by calling on site FCC bid operators. Remote access bidding is offered strictly as a convenience to bidders. All remote access bidders are solely responsible for monitoring auction announcements and ensuring that their bids are submitted during the specified bid submission periods and that high bid withdrawals are submitted during the specified bid withdrawal periods. As a precautionary measure, we strongly urge that all bidders who elect to bid by remote access designate at least one individual who will be present on site, in Washington, D.C. during the course of the auction as one of their authorized representatives. Registration On site registration for the auction will be on Tuesday, October 25, 1994 at the Postal Square Building located at 2 Massachusetts Avenue, N.E. Washington from 1:00-9:00 p.m. A software demonstration will be held on site from 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. On site registration will also be provided on Wednesday, October 26, 1994 from 8:00 - 9:30 a.m. All qualified bidders must register to participate in the auction. Qualified bidders who have requested to bid electronically or by telephone from remote locations are not required to register in person. Bidders who have selected to bid either telephonically or electronically from remote locations will receive their registration materials prior to the auction in the manner requested on the FCC Auction Line Order Form or the Telephonic Bidding Request Form. Bidding Schedule Bidding will begin at 10:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, October 26, 1994 and end at 9:00 p.m. ET. Bidding will begin at 10:00 a.m. ET and end at 9:00 p.m. ET each day thereafter, unless otherwise announced. All auction times will be based on Eastern Time. Generally, there will be no bidding on Saturdays or Sundays. Each round will last approximately one hour, however, initial rounds will last longer to allow bidders to familiarize themselves with the bidding procedures. Each round will consist of a bid submission period and a bid withdrawal period. Shortly after a bid submission period has closed, the FCC will provide round results indicating the high bidder and all accepted bids for each license. This information will be provided on site in hard copy form and on the monitors located in the bidding room. Bidders will be able to monitor round results from remote locations either over the FCC Auction Line or over the Internet. Instructions for accessing FCC auction information over the Internet are provided in the attachment to this Public Notice and in the Bidders' Information Package. Only remote electronic bidders who have registered to use the FCC Auction Line, as provided in the instructions contained in the Bidder's Information Package, will have access to the FCC Auction Line. Other bidders must obtain round results over the Internet. The round results file formats are attached as an exhibit to this Public Notice. Shortly after the bid withdrawal period has closed, the FCC will provide the high bids for each license and the minimum accepted bids for the next round. The FCC will be identified as the high bidder on any licenses on which a high bid has been withdrawn. Bids will only be accepted during the bid submission period and bid withdrawals will only be accepted during the bid withdrawal period. The schedule for each bid submission and bid withdrawal period will be announced at the beginning of each round. Bidders must carefully monitor all FCC announcements to ensure up to date information regarding the bid submission and bid withdrawal schedule for each round. All bidders, whether on site or remote, should allow adequate time to submit their bid or withdraw their high bids. The Commission is under no obligation to extend the bid submission or bid withdrawal periods once the time remaining in the period has elapsed. Bid submissions and high bid withdrawals submitted after a period has closed will not be accepted. Eligibility Calculation During the auction the system will calculate bidders' eligibility in terms of MHz-pops as follows: In Stage I the required activity will be calculated by dividing your current maximum eligibility by 3. If your bids are below the required activity level, your maximum eligibility will be reduced in the next round. The amount of the reduction will be calculated by subtracting your actual activity from your required activity and multiplying by 3. In Stage II your required activity will be calculated by dividing your current maximum eligibility by 1.5. If your bids are below the required activity level, your maximum eligibility will be reduced in the next round. The amount of the reduction will be calculated by subtracting your actual activity from your required activity and multiplying by 1.5. In Stage III your required activity will be calculated by dividing your current maximum eligibility by 1.11. If your bids are below the required activity level, your maximum eligibility will be reduced in the next round. The amount of the reduction will be calculated by subtracting your actual activity from your required activity and multiplying by 1.11. A bidder's activity for purposes of determining whether the bidder has met the minimum required activity in a round will be calculated based on a bidder's bidding activity during the bid submission period from the previous round. Thus, if a high bidder withdraws its high bid during the bid withdrawal period, the withdrawn bid will be counted as activity in the next round. During the bid submission period, the system will not provide a running total of the Mhz-pops associated with each license on which bids are placed. Before your bid is submitted, however, the system will notify you if your bid is below the required activity level. Automatic Waiver Override If your bidding activity is below the required activity level you may select an automatic waiver which will preserve your current eligibility in the next round. If you have intentionally reduced your eligibility and do not want to use a wavier, you may request an override of the automatic waiver function. However, if you use the automatic waiver override function, you will not be able to regain your previous eligibility in a future round. In addition, if you are the high bidder on one or more licenses from a previous round, do not wish to bid in a round, and your eligibility (based on your high bids) would be reduced, the system will automatically enter a waiver for you. Under these circumstances, if you wish to reduce your eligibility and do not want to use a waiver, you can also request an override of the automatic waiver function. This option will not be available if you do not have any standing high bids. Auction Procedures The following procedures will be followed for each method of bidding: 1. Bidding On Site Bidders wishing to bid on site in Washington will be required to have one of their authorized representatives identified on the FCC Form 175 application register in person at the auction site. During registration bidders will receive their system login code, password and bidder identification number. Registration for on site bidders will be held at the Postal Square Building on October 25, 1994 from 1:00 - 9:00 p.m. ET and on October 26, 1994 from 8:00 - 9:30 a.m. ET. Bidders electing to bid on site will place their bids electronically using one of the on site computer bidding terminals. Bids must be submitted before the conclusion of the bid submission period and bid withdrawals must be submitted before the conclusion of the bid withdrawal period. Bidders may print a hard copy confirmation after submitting or withdrawing a high bid. Hard copy confirmations must be requested by selecting print before exiting from the main menu. All FCC auction announcements will be made orally in the bidding room. The FCC will announce the schedule for the bid submission and bid withdrawal period at the beginning of each round. The FCC will make a further announcement if it decides to extend a period. If a period is extended, the time remaining clock on the bid submission and bid withdrawal screens will automatically be refreshed to reflect the change. Round results will be provided after the bid submission period and after the bid withdrawal period over the monitors located in the bidding room. Hard copies of the round results will also be available on site approximately five minutes after the close of the period. 2. Electronic Bidding From Remote Locations Qualified bidders who have completed and returned the FCC Auction Line Order Form provided in the Bidder Information Package will have the option of bidding electronically from remote locations during the auction. Only qualified bidders may have access to the FCC Auction Line software. Other interested parties may monitor auction round results and FCC auction announcements over the Internet. Applicants who have submitted the FCC Auction Line Order Form and have requested mail in registration will not be required to register in person for the auction. Qualified bidders registering to bid electronically from remote locations will receive their system login code and password with their software kit in the manner requested on the registration form. For security reasons, the bidder identification number will be mailed separately. Lost bidder identification numbers can only be replaced if requested on site by one of the authorized representatives designated on a bidder's FCC Form 175 application. Remote bidders will not be able to logon to the system to access the various network features and review the system screens until they receive their bidder identification number. Remote bidders must submit their bids before the conclusion of the bid submission period. Bid withdrawals must be submitted during the bid withdrawal period. Bidders must log out of the system and re-enter at the beginning of each period to submit or withdraw a bid. A system alert message will notify you that you must log out and log back into the system before each period. If you do not log out, you will be disconnected automatically so that the network can refresh information for the next period. If you do not wish to withdraw a high bid you do not need to log off the system during the bid withdrawal period until a log out message is displayed. At that time, you must log off the system in order to place a bid in the next round. After you submit or withdraw a bid you will have the opportunity to request a confirmation which can be printed or downloaded onto your database. However, bid submission and withdrawal confirmations can not be requested after a bidder advances to the next screen. If you are having difficulties downloading or printing your bid submission or bid withdrawal confirmation, a fax copy bid confirmation can be obtained by calling Business Information Network at (301) 248-1604. An FCC staff member will be on site at Business Information Network during the course of the auction to oversee the remote bidding process and to answer any questions which relate to the application of the FCC 's rules. Please note that the time remaining clocks that appear on the computer screens for remote electronic bidders are constantly being synchronized with the system clock, which may cause temporary interruptions in the time display as the clock is refreshed. This is a normal system function and will not reduce or alter the time remaining in the period. Remote electronic bidders should also be aware that when they submit bids they will not be able to use the numeric keypad. In order to submit a bid electronically, bidders must use the numeric keys on the top of the main keyboard. To receive current round results, you must exit to the main menu and then enter the round results option. Round results will be available approximately five minutes after the conclusion of each period. If you are within the round results option and the round results for that particular round are not yet available, the system will not refresh new round results. In order to obtain refreshed round results you must enter "Esc" and select the round results option again. All FCC announcements will be made by issuing a network broadcast message or system alert message. The FCC will issue a network broadcast message announcing the schedule for the bid submission period and bid withdrawal period at the beginning of each round. These messages will also be available in text (."TXT") files on Internet. A count down clock on the screen will notify bidders how much time remains in the round. The FCC will issue a system alert message notifying bidders if the announced bid submission and bid withdrawal schedules have been extended. If a period is extended, the time remaining clock on the bid submission and bid withdrawal screens will also be refreshed to reflect the change. Bidders should read carefully the FCC Bidder Online User's Manual. The User's Manual can be accessed on line by selecting that option on the main menu. For customer service or technical support during the auction, contact Business Information Network at: (301) 248-1600 -- Customer Service (301) 248-1604-- Technical Support Bids may also be submitted or withdrawn telephonically by calling an FCC bid operator at: (800) 432-2110 3. Telephonic Bidding All qualified bidders will have the option of bidding by telephone from remote locations during the auction. Telephonic bidders who have completed and returned the Telephonic Bidding Request Form will not be required to register in person for the auction. Bidders registering to bid telephonically from remote locations will receive their login code and system password and bidder identification number in the manner requested on the Telephonic Bidding Request Form. To ensure the security of these codes, the bidder identification number will be delivered separately from the login code and password. Lost bidder identification numbers can only be replaced on site by one of the authorized representatives designated on the bidder's FCC Form 175 application. All bids must be submitted before the conclusion of the bid submission period. And all bid withdrawals must be submitted during the bid withdrawal period. To place a bid telephonically bidders should call the FCC Bidding Line at 1-800-432-2110 during the bid submission period. The Bid operator will request your login code, system password, FCC account number, bidder identification number, name and fax number. After this information has been provided, the operator will inform you of the time remaining in the current period and the start time and duration of the next period. The bid operator will then review your current eligibility and inquire whether you would like to place a bid or exercise a waiver. You must provide the bid operator with the Market Number and Frequency Block Number for each license on which you wish to bid. The Bid operator will identify the minimum accepted bid for each license and request the amount you would like to bid on each particular license. If your total bids fall below the required activity level, you will be notified regarding the amount your eligibility will be reduced in the next round before your bid is placed. If you have waivers remaining, the bid operator will ask whether you would like to use a waiver. If you have intentionally reduced your eligibility and do not want to use a waiver, you may request that the operator override the automatic waiver function. If you do not have any waivers remaining the operator will inform you of the amount that your eligibility will be reduced in the next round. Before submitting your bids, the bid operator will review your bids on each license. After your bid or waiver has been submitted a hard copy confirmation will be faxed to you at the fax number provided. High bids may be withdrawn during the bid withdrawal period by following these same procedures. For security reasons, all telephonic bids and bid withdrawals will be tape recorded. Auction announcements will be available to telephonic bidders over the FCC Auction Line system and over the Internet. Telephonic bidders will not be able to receive round results information from the FCC bid operators. Round results may be obtained using either the FCC Auction Line software or the Internet. ATTACHMENT Auction Round Results The FCC will make all bids in each round available on the FCC Auction Line and the Internet network. Interested parties can download the high bids, all bids and minimum accepted bids in each round by accessing the FCC Internet node via anonymous FTP @fcc.gov. Shortly after each bid submission period the high bids and all bids files will be available in ASCII and DBF file formats. Shortly after each bid withdrawal period the withdrawn bids, high bids after withdrawal and minimum accepted bids for the next round will be available. Following is the field definitions and lengths. Field name Field definition or values Field Length bid_type High- high bid All- valid bid Wdrn- withdrawn bid MnBd- minimum accepted bid 4 characters market i.e. R001, R002 4 characters freq_block_num Frequency Block Number i.e. 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, or 06 2 characters round_num Round number 3 characters bid_amt Bid amount 11 characters (up to 99 billion) previous_high_bid Previous high bid 11 characters (up to 99 billion) min_accepted_bid Minimum accepted bid 11 characters (up to 99 billion) name Applicant Name 30 characters fcc_account_num FCC Account Number 10 characters thedate The date that the action took place 8 characters thetime The time that the action took place 8 characters Report Example #1 (After bid submission - high bids and all bids) (the column headers have been modified for display purposes) Bdtp Mrkt Fq R BidAmt Name FCCAcctNum TheDate TheTime High R001 01 1 125 ABC 01234567898/31/94 10:25:01 High R001 02 1 0 FCC FCC99999998/31/94 09:00:00 All R001 01 1 125 ABC 01234567898/31/94 10:25:01 All R001 01 1 115 XYZ 09876543218/31/94 10:12:23 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Report Example #2 (After withdrawal - withdrawn bids and high bids) Bdtp Mrkt Fq R BidAmt Name FCCAcctNum TheDate TheTime Wdrn R001 01 1 125 ABC 01234567898/31/94 11:30:05 High R001 01 1 115 FCC FCC99999998/31/94 11:30:05 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Report Example #3 (After withdrawal - minimum accepted bids next round) Bdtp Mrkt Fq R Previous_high_bid Min_accepted_bid MnBd R001 01 1 6666666 7000000 MnBd R001 02 1 5555555 5833000 MnBd R001 03 1 4444444 4667000