PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12th St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 DA 12-721 May 8, 2012 MOBILITY FUND PHASE I AUCTION ADDITIONAL DATA FORMATS OF ELIGIBLE CENSUS BLOCKS AU Docket No. 12-25 1. By this Public Notice, the Wireless Telecommunications and Wireline Competition Bureaus (the Bureaus) announce the availability of a spreadsheet of biddable geographic areas for Auction 901 and geographic information system (GIS) data for the census blocks eligible for Mobility Fund Phase I support to be offered in Auction 901. This data does not update or replace the list of eligible blocks. Rather, it provides the same data in additional formats and thus just supplements the previously-released data files and interactive map. We are taking this step to make the data accessible to more people and to make it easier to use for individual analysis. 2. In the Auction 901 Procedures Public Notice, the Bureaus identified census blocks eligible for the Mobility Fund Phase I support to be offered in Auction 901.1 With the Auction 901 Procedures Public Notice, we provided the list of eligible blocks in electronic format as “Attachment A” files.2 We explained that eligible census blocks will be aggregated by census tracts for bidding, with exceptions for Alaska and for census tracts that include eligible blocks covering Tribal lands.3 Eligible census blocks in Alaska will not be aggregated into tracts for bidding. Instead, bidders will be permitted to bid for support for individual census blocks. For tracts that contain some eligible blocks that are in a Tribal land and other eligible blocks that are not in a Tribal land, there will be separate aggregations of the Tribal blocks and the non-Tribal blocks. If the Tribal blocks in a tract are located in more than one Tribal area, there will be separate aggregations for each Tribal area. 3. We announce the availability of a file that includes the “items” upon which bidders may bid. These items include (1) the census tract-level aggregations of eligible census blocks, (2) separate aggregations of Tribal blocks and non-Tribal blocks for tracts that contain some eligible blocks that are in a Tribal land and other eligible blocks that are not in a Tribal land, and (3) individual eligible census blocks in Alaska. This “biddable items” file is available via the link for “Attachment A Files” at http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/901/. 4. Concurrent with the release of Auction 901 Procedures Public Notice, the Bureaus released an interactive map of the eligible census blocks. The map is a visual representation of data from the Attachment A files, which contain more information and generally more detail than is displayed on the map. The map is available at http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/901/ and at http://www.fcc.gov/maps/. 1 “Mobility Fund Phase I Auction Scheduled for September 27, 2012; Notice and Filing Requirements and Other Procedures for Auction 901,” AU Docket No. 12-25, DA 12-641, para. 22, rel. May 2, 2012 (Auction 901 Procedures Public Notice). 2 Id., Attachment A. 3 Id. at para. 131-141. Federal Communications Commission DA 12-721 2 5. The data formats we make available are additional formats of the data as shown in the interactive map. These formats, which are available at http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/901/, are the following: · downloadable shapefile · web mapping service · MapBox map tiles 6. The shapefile format is actually four individual files (.dbf, .shp, .shx, and .prj) all with the same prefix.4 This format is generally recognized as a standard transfer file for GIS data. The shapefile is an accepted transfer in just about every GIS software package. 7. Web mapping service (WMS) is an Open Geospatial Consortium standard for delivering geospatial data over the web.5 The WMS data service can be viewed in two ways. First, the data can be viewed by using the URL. Second, most GIS software allows you to add this service as a layer to your session or project. 8. MapBox map tiles are cached map tiles of the data. With this open source software approach, these image tiles can be joined with other MapBox layers to make new maps.6 9. For additional information about Auction 901, including an overview of requirements to participate in the auction and the auction procedures, you should consult the Auction 901 Procedures Public Notice. Public notices and additional information about Auction 901 may be found at http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/901/. 10. For further information, contact Lisa Stover of the Auctions and Spectrum Access Division at (717) 338-2868. To request materials in accessible formats (Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format) for people with disabilities, send an e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or call the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 or (202) 418-0432 (TTY). - FCC - 4 See “Esri Shapefile Technical Description,” http://www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/shapefile.pdf. Last visited March 7, 2012. 5 See http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards. Last visited March 7, 2012. 6 See http://mapbox.com/. Last visited March 7, 2012.