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Oct. 10, 2007

The Federal Communications Commission has released its set of rules governing its upcoming 700 Mhz spectrum auction.

Additionally, the FCC has moved the auction's beginning date from Jan. 16 to Jan. 24, 2008.

Auction bidding is expected to be anonymous and the FCC has set a reserve price of $10 billion.

On the C block spectrum, to which the FCC has attached open-platform conditions, the commission has set an expected reserve price of $4.63 billion.

The C block is the only swath of spectrum large enough to accommodate a new national wireless network.

Overall, the FCC says that if the reserve price on each block isn't met, the spectrum will be re-auctioned again.

If the C-block doesn't meet its reserve, it will be re-auctioned without the open-platform conditions and also not necessarily with the same geographic groupings.

The FCC also has agreed to supply smaller business with bidding credits.

Companies with gross revenues of $15 million to $40 million will receive a 15 percent discount on the winning bid price.

Bidding companies with gross revenues of less than $15 million will get a 25 percent discount.

However, the FCC has included rules for calculating revenue totals to keep smaller companies from bidding on behalf of larger companies.

In its public notice, the commission warned bidders against collusion and said that even statements to the press about an applicant's plans to participate or to not participate could violate anti-collusion rules.

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Source: Wireless Week