Federal Communications Commission	DA 21-1462


DA 21-1462
November 23, 2021

CLOSE OF CLOCK PHASE BIDDING IN AUCTION 110 (3.45 GHz SERVICE) 
SCHEDULE FOR ASSIGNMENT PHASE MOCK AUCTION
AVAILABILITY OF ASSIGNMENT PHASE USER GUIDE AND ONLINE TUTORIAL
ASSIGNMENT PHASE BIDDING BEGINS DECEMBER 9, 2021
AU Docket No. 21-62

1. On November 16, 2021, bidding in the clock phase of the auction of new flexible-use licenses in the 3.45–3.55 GHz band (Auction 110) concluded.  By this Public Notice, the Office of Economics and Analytics and the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau provide information regarding the assignment phase of Auction 110, which will begin on Thursday, December 9, 2021.  Bidders that won at least one generic block of spectrum in one Partial Economic Area (PEA) in the clock phase of the auction are eligible—but not required—to bid in the assignment phase for frequency-specific licensing blocks.  This Public Notice, along with additional information necessary to participate in the assignment phase, will be sent by overnight delivery to winning clock phase bidders. 
2. We remind applicants that the rule prohibiting certain communications set forth in section 1.2105(c) of the Commission’s rules continues to apply to each party that filed a short-form application (FCC Form 175) in Auction 110. See 47 CFR § 1.2105(c)(1); Auction of Flexible-Use Service Licenses in the 3.45-3.55 GHz Band for Next-Generation Wireless Services; Notice and Filing Requirements, Minimum Opening Bids, Upfront Payments, and Other Procedures for Auction 110; Bidding in Auction 110 Scheduled to Begin October 5, 2021, AU Docket No. 21-62, Public Notice, DA 21-655, at 16, para. 44 (2021) (Auction 110 Procedures Public Notice).
  Accordingly, an applicant must not disclose its status as a winning or non-winning bidder, or any other non-public information covered by the prohibition, until after the deadline for winning bidders in Auction 110 to submit down payments, which will be announced in a future public notice. Auction 110 Procedures Public Notice at 17, para. 46; see also 47 CFR § 1.2105(c)(1).
  
I. EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR BIDDERS PARTICIPATING IN THE ASSIGNMENT PHASE
3. Bidders eligible to participate in the assignment phase will be able to log in to the assignment phase bidding system between 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Thursday, December 2, 2021, and 12 p.m. ET on Friday, December 3, 2021, to download their assignment phase bidding options (based on their clock phase winnings), view the sequence and timing for the assignment rounds for all PEAs, and identify the assignment rounds in which they will be eligible to participate.  
4. To help bidders prepare for the assignment phase, we have provided the “Auction 110 Assignment Phase Bidding System User Guide,” which describes the system and provides detailed instructions for bidding and viewing results and payment information from the assignment phase.  We have also made available an online tutorial for bidding in the assignment phase.  The tutorial explains the structure of the assignment phase of the auction, the process for determining winning assignments and associated payments, and the calculation of final auction payments.  Also available is the “Auction 110 Assignment Phase Bidding System File Formats,” which provides, for each assignment phase bidding system data file, a description of the file, the data fields that are included (with definitions of the data elements in each field), the data type, examples, and notes.  Sample data files are also provided.  The user guide, tutorial, file formats, and sample files are available in electronic form in the “Education” section of the Auction 110 website at www.fcc.gov/auction/110 and will remain available and accessible on the Auction 110 website for reference.  We recommend that bidders eligible to participate in the assignment phase thoroughly review the user guide and tutorial.
5. Mock Auction.  On Monday, December 6, 2021, we will conduct a mock auction for the assignment phase of Auction 110, according to the schedule announced below.  Prior to the mock auction, bidders will have access to the bidding system for the purpose of accessing their assigned mock auction data beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday, December 3, 2021.  
6. The mock auction will give clock phase winning bidders an opportunity to become familiar with the assignment phase bidding system and to ask Commission staff questions about the bidding system and the procedures for the assignment phase.  We strongly recommend that all clock phase winning bidders participate in the mock auction for the assignment phase.
II. ASSIGNMENT PHASE BIDDING SYSTEM AVAILABILITY AND DATA 
7. During the preview period beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET on Thursday, December 2, 2021, winning bidders in the clock phase will be able to log in to the assignment phase bidding system using a link for the system that will be sent by overnight delivery to each bidder to access the information described below.  Bidders should also use this link to log in to the bidding system for the mock auction. 
8. Grouping of PEAs for Bidding.  PEAs will be grouped for bidding in the same assignment round if (i) all of the PEAs in the group are in the same Regional Economic Area Grouping (REAG) and not in the top-20 PEAs, (ii) all PEAs in the group are subject to the small market bidding credit cap or all are not subject to the cap, and (iii) the same bidders won the same number of blocks in each clock category in each of the PEAs in the group. Auction 110 Procedures Public Notice at 66, paras. 234-37.
  The same assignment will be made for all of the PEAs in the group.  Bidders will be able to view whether any PEAs have been grouped for bidding in the assignment phase during the preview period.  
9. Bidding Options.  Bidders can download a list of their bidding options provided in the “My Bid Options” download file.  This file shows all of the bidding options available to the bidder for all assignment rounds in which it can bid, based on its winnings in the clock phase.  This file can also be used to upload bids.  Each bidder’s bidding options for a PEA will be all of its contiguous license assignment options consistent with the bidder’s clock phase winnings.  All clock phase winners will receive contiguous assignments of frequency blocks in a PEA within a category regardless of whether they bid in the assignment phase.  Further, in a PEA with two categories, if one or more bidders won blocks in both categories, one of those bidders will be assigned blocks that are contiguous across the two categories. 
10. Detailed Schedule of Rounds.  The full schedule of assignment rounds will be available for viewing in the assignment phase bidding system.  The assignment rounds will begin on Thursday, December 9, 2021.  The top 20 PEAs will be assigned first—one PEA per assignment round—in order from PEA001 to PEA020. Id. at 65-66, para. 233.
  Once the top 20 PEAs have been assigned, the remaining PEAs will be assigned, with bidding taking place in parallel for a PEA (or a grouping of PEAs) in as many as six REAGs during the same assignment bidding round.  Within each REAG, bidding will take place for PEAs in order from PEA021 to PEA411 (except when PEAs that would otherwise be in a later round are grouped with PEAs in earlier rounds).
11. Access to a bidder’s actual assignment phase data will be suspended during the mock auction, but it will become available again at 1:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 7, 2021.
III. ASSIGNMENT PHASE MOCK AUCTION
12. The assignment phase mock auction will be conducted on Monday, December 6, 2021.  The mock auction will allow winning clock phase bidders to become familiar with the assignment phase bidding system and to ask Commission staff questions they may have in advance of the actual assignment phase of Auction 110.
13. Bidding in the assignment phase mock auction will not predict actual bidding in the assignment phase of Auction 110.  For the mock auction, the bidding system will use only non-top-20 PEAs, with bidding conducted in six REAGs during each round, so that more PEAs are available for bidding in each mock assignment round.  Instead of being assigned the PEAs in which it has clock phase winnings, each clock phase winning bidder will be randomly assigned mock winnings in PEAs such that it can bid in five of the mock assignment rounds.  Each bidder’s assigned mock PEAs will determine the assignment rounds in which it may bid in the mock auction.  Each bidder will have the same bidding credit for which it claimed eligibility in the actual auction.  
14. Each winning bidder will be able to access its assigned mock auction data in the assignment phase bidding system starting at 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday, December 3, 2021.  The mock auction bidding schedule for Monday, December 6, 2021, will be as follows:  
Mock Assignment Round 1	10:00 a.m.  –	10:40 a.m. ET
Mock Assignment Round 2	11:00 a.m.  –	11:40 a.m. ET
Mock Assignment Round 3	12:00 p.m.  –	12:40 p.m. ET
Mock Assignment Round 4	2:00 p.m.  –	2:40 p.m. ET
Mock Assignment Round 5	3:00 p.m.  –	3:40 p.m. ET
Mock Assignment Round 6	4:00 p.m.  –	4:40 p.m. ET
IV. BIDDER QUESTIONS DURING THE ASSIGNMENT PHASE, INCLUDING THE MOCK AUCTION
15. Commission auction staff will be available to respond to bidders’ questions during the assignment phase mock auction and the actual assignment phase bidding rounds.  Only a person who has been designated as an authorized bidder, the contact person, or the certifying official on the qualified bidder’s FCC Form 175 should call on behalf of a bidder.  To place bids by telephone or to ask time-sensitive questions during the auction, an authorized bidder must use the FCC Auction Bidder Line telephone number supplied in the registration materials and have his or her login information and RSA SecurID® token available.  Bidders can also use the messaging function of the bidding system for non-time-sensitive questions or suggestions.
V. CONTACT INFORMATION
16. For further information on the mock auction and assignment phase procedures, please contact the Auctions Hotline at (717) 338-2868.  Press contact:  Will Wiquist at (202) 418-0509.  For technical support questions, contact the FCC Auctions Technical Support Hotline at (877) 480-3201, option nine; (202) 414-1250; or TTY: (202) 4141255. The hours of operation for the Technical Support Hotline are 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.
  
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