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 12-947 June 15, 2012 MOBILITY FUND PHASE I AUCTION SUPPLEMENTAL SHORT-FORM INSTRUCTIONS AND OTHER INFORMATION AU Docket No. 12-25 1. On May 2, 2012, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Wireline Competition Bureau (“Bureaus”) announced the procedures for the Mobility Fund Phase I auction scheduled for September 27, 2012 (Auction 901).1 By this Public Notice, the Bureaus provide supplemental filing instructions for completing FCC Form 180, announce the availability of certain updated files, and provide additional information regarding certain details of Auction 901. Short-Form Application (FCC Form 180) Filing Instructions 2. In the Auction 901 Procedures Public Notice, the Bureaus provided general instructions for completing FCC Form 180 and stated that we would provide additional information about accessing, completing, and viewing the FCC Form 180 in a separate public notice.2 The instructions provided in Attachment A to this Public Notice supplement those contained in the Auction 901 Procedures Public Notice.3 Updated Files 3. 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 901.4 The Bureaus also released files containing detailed information about these census blocks. In the Auction 901 Additional Data Formats Public Notice, the Bureaus announced the availability of an additional file with information about the biddable geographic areas for Auction 901.5 The Bureaus now announce the availability of updated versions of some of these files, which are available via the link for “Attachment A Files” at http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/901/. Specifically, the “Biddable Items” file, the “All Eligible Census Blocks” file, and five of the state spreadsheets have been updated. In the “Biddable Items” file, the header of one of the columns has been changed from “Pop10” to “Population,” and the header of another column has been changed from “Tribal_Area” to “Tribal Land.” These changes were made to be more 1 “Mobility Fund Phase I Auction Scheduled for September 27, 2012; Notice and Filing Requirements and Other Procedures for Auction 901,” Public Notice, AU Docket No. 12-25, DA 12-641 (rel. May 2, 2012) (“Auction 901 Procedures Public Notice”). 2 Id. at paras. 113-15. 3 Id. at paras. 82-109, 113-118 (providing general guidance on completing, filing and prosecuting Form 180). 4 Id. at para. 22 and Attachment A. 5 “Mobility Fund Phase I Auction; Additional Data Formats of Eligible Census Blocks,” Public Notice, AU Docket No. 12-25, DA 12-721 (rel. May 8, 2012) at paras. 2-3 (“Auction 901 Additional Data Formats Public Notice”). Federal Communications Commission DA 12-947 2 consistent with how the data will be presented in the FCC Auction System. Additionally some of the entries in the “Tribe” and “Tribal Land” columns have been changed. In the previous version of the file, the name of any tribe or Tribal land that should have included an apostrophe erroneously included two apostrophes. The new file fixes this. 4. The apostrophe anomaly also affected the “All Eligible Census Blocks” file and five of the state spreadsheets. Consequently, the “All Eligible Census Blocks” file and the state spreadsheets for Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Michigan, and Montana have been revised. Additional Details for Determining Winning Bids 5. In the Auction 901 Procedures Public Notice, we described the approach we will use to determine winning bids, including procedures to ensure that at most one bid per geographic area is awarded, the use of random numbers to address tied bids, and our procedures when remaining funds are insufficient to support the next lowest bid.6 Here we clarify those procedures, in particular with respect to our use of random selection numbers, so that funds may be used to support new service to as many road miles as possible within our $300 million budget. 6. For each submitted bid, we will assign a random selection number, which we will use in two ways: to break any tied bids for the same area, and to establish an order in which we will assign bids with the same dollars per road mile amount for different areas when the remaining funds are insufficient to award support to all the bids in that amount. We will also calculate a gross dollar support amount associated with the bid, equal to the gross bid amount times the number of qualifying road miles in the area. To ensure that we award support to at most one bid per geographic area, we will first compare net bids (taking into account bidding credits where applicable) for each biddable area, and for each area, retain the lowest net bid for further consideration. If there are ties for the lowest bid for an area, we will retain the bid with the highest selection number. 7. To select winning bids, we will then compare the retained bids for all areas by sorting them in ascending order of net bid amount (dollars per road mile) and descending order of selection number. We will award support to bids in this order, starting with the lowest bid/highest selection number, as long as remaining funds are sufficient to cover the gross dollar support amount of the bid. If a bid cannot be awarded because its gross dollar support would exceed the remaining funds, we will skip the bid and consider the next lowest bid/highest selection number, awarding as much support as possible within our $300 million budget. Additional Information 8. For additional information about Auction 901, including an overview of requirements and auction procedures for participation in the auction, you should consult the Auction 901 Procedures Public Notice as well as the supplemental instructions attached to this Public Notice. Public notices and additional information about Auction 901 may be found at http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/901/. 9. 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 - 6 Auction 901 Procedures Public Notice at paras. 143-46.