47 C.F.R. § 1.2105 Bidding application and certification procedures; prohibition of collusion.
Title 47 - Telecommunication
(a) Submission of Short-Form Application (FCC Form 175). In order to be eligible to bid, an applicant must timely submit a short-form application (FCC Form 175), together with any appropriate upfront payment set forth by Public Notice. Beginning January 1, 1999, all short-form applications must be filed electronically. (1) All short-form applications will be due: (i) On the date(s) specified by public notice; or (ii) In the case of application filing dates which occur automatically by operation of law (see, e.g., 47 CFR 22.902), on a date specified by public notice after the Commission has reviewed the applications that have been filed on those dates and determined that mutual exclusivity exists. (2) The short-form application must contain the following information: (i) Identification of each license on which the applicant wishes to bid; (ii)(A) The applicant's name, if the applicant is an individual. If the applicant is a corporation, then the short-form application will require the name and address of the corporate office and the name and title of an officer or director. If the applicant is a partnership, then the application will require the name, citizenship and address of all general partners, and, if a partner is not a natural person, then the name and title of a responsible person should be included as well. If the applicant is a trust, then the name and address of the trustee will be required. If the applicant is none of the above, then it must identify and describe itself and its principals or other responsible persons; and (B) Applicant ownership and other information, as set forth in §1.2112. (iii) The identity of the person(s) authorized to make or withdraw a bid; (iv) If the applicant applies as a designated entity pursuant to §1.2110, a statement to that effect and a declaration, under penalty of perjury, that the applicant is qualified as a designated entity under §1.2110. (v) Certification that the applicant is legally, technically, financially and otherwise qualified pursuant to section 308(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. The Commission will accept applications certifying that a request for waiver or other relief from the requirements of section 310 is pending; (vi) Certification that the applicant is in compliance with the foreign ownership provisions of section 310 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended; (vii) Certification that the applicant is and will, during the pendency of its application(s), remain in compliance with any service-specific qualifications applicable to the licenses on which the applicant intends to bid including, but not limited to, financial qualifications. The Commission may require certification in certain services that the applicant will, following grant of a license, come into compliance with certain service-specific rules, including, but not limited to, ownership eligibility limitations; (viii) An exhibit, certified as truthful under penalty of perjury, identifying all parties with whom the applicant has entered into partnerships, joint ventures, consortia or other agreements, arrangements or understandings of any kind relating to the licenses being auctioned, including any such agreements relating to the post-auction market structure. (ix) Certification under penalty of perjury that it has not entered and will not enter into any explicit or implicit agreements, arrangements or understandings of any kind with any parties other than those identified pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)(viii) regarding the amount of their bids, bidding strategies or the particular licenses on which they will or will not bid. (x) Certification that the applicant is not in default on any Commission licenses and that it is not delinquent on any non-tax debt owed to any Federal agency. (xi) An attached statement made under penalty of perjury indicating whether or not the applicant has ever been in default on any Commission license or has ever been delinquent on any non-tax debt owed to any Federal agency. Note to paragraph (b) Modification and Dismissal of Short-Form Application (FCC Form 175). (1) Any short-form application (FCC Form 175) that does not contain all of the certifications required pursuant to this section is unacceptable for filing and cannot be corrected subsequent to the applicable filing deadline. The application will be dismissed with prejudice and the upfront payment, if paid, will be returned. (2) The Commission will provide bidders a limited opportunity to cure defects specified herein (except for failure to sign the application and to make certifications) and to resubmit a corrected application. During the resubmission period for curing defects, a short-form application may be amended or modified to cure defects identified by the Commission or to make minor amendments or modifications. After the resubmission period has ended, a short-form application may be amended or modified to make minor changes or correct minor errors in the application. Major amendments cannot be made to a short-form application after the initial filing deadline. Major amendments include changes in ownership of the applicant that would constitute an assignment or transfer of control, changes in an applicant's size which would affect eligibility for designated entity provisions, and changes in the license service areas identified on the short-form application on which the applicant intends to bid. Minor amendments include, but are not limited to, the correction of typographical errors and other minor defects not identified as major. An application will be considered to be newly filed if it is amended by a major amendment and may not be resubmitted after applicable filing deadlines. (3) Applicants who fail to correct defects in their applications in a timely manner as specified by public notice will have their applications dismissed with no opportunity for resubmission. (c) Prohibition of collusion. (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (c)(2), (c)(3), and (c)(4) of this section, after the short-form application filing deadline, all applicants for licenses in any of the same geographic license areas are prohibited from cooperating or collaborating with respect to, discussing with each other, or disclosing to each other in any manner the substance of their own, or each other's, or any other competing applicants' bids or bidding strategies, or discussing or negotiating settlement agreements, until after the down payment deadline, unless such applicants are members of a bidding consortium or other joint bidding arrangement identified on the bidder's short-form application pursuant to §1.2105(a)(2)(viii). (2) Applicants may modify their short-form applications to reflect formation of consortia or changes in ownership at any time before or during an auction, provided such changes do not result in a change in control of the applicant, and provided that the parties forming consortia or entering into ownership agreements have not applied for licenses in any of the same geographic license areas. Such changes will not be considered major modifications of the application. (3) After the filing of short-form applications, applicants may make agreements to bid jointly for licenses, provided the parties to the agreement have not applied for licenses in any of the same geographic license areas. (4) After the filing of short-form applications, a holder of a non-controlling attributable interest in an entity submitting a short-form application may acquire an ownership interest in, form a consortium with, or enter into a joint bidding arrangement with, other applicants for licenses in the same geographic license area, provided that: (i) The attributable interest holder certifies to the Commission that it has not communicated and will not communicate with any party concerning the bids or bidding strategies of more than one of the applicants in which it holds an attributable interest, or with which it has a consortium or joint bidding arrangement, and which have applied for licenses in the same geographic license area(s); and (ii) The arrangements do not result in any change in control of an applicant; or (iii) When an applicant has withdrawn from the auction, is no longer placing bids and has no further eligibility, a holder of a non-controlling, attributable interest in such an applicant may obtain an ownership interest in or enter into a consortium with another applicant for a license in the same geographic service area, provided that the attributable interest holder certifies to the Commission that it did not communicate with the new applicant prior to the date that the original applicant withdrew from the auction. (5) Applicants must modify their short-form applications to reflect any changes in ownership or in membership of consortia or joint bidding arrangements. (6) Any applicant that makes or receives a communication of bids or bidding strategies prohibited under paragraph (c)(1) of this section shall report such communication in writing to the Commission immediately, and in no case later than five business days after the communication occurs. Such reports shall be filed with the Office of the Secretary, and a copy shall be sent to the Chief of the Auctions and Spectrum Access Division, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. (7) For purposes of this paragraph: (i) The term applicant shall include all controlling interests in the entity submitting a short-form application to participate in an auction (FCC Form 175), as well as all holders of partnership and other ownership interests and any stock interest amounting to 10 percent or more of the entity, or outstanding stock, or outstanding voting stock of the entity submitting a short-form application, and all officers and directors of that entity; and (ii) The term bids or bidding strategies shall include capital calls or requests for additional funds in support of bids or bidding strategies. Example: Company A is an applicant in area 1. Company B and Company C each own 10 percent of Company A. Company D is an applicant in area 1, area 2, and area 3. Company C is an applicant in area 3. Without violating the Commission's Rules, Company B can enter into a consortium arrangement with Company D or acquire an ownership interest in Company D if Company B certifies either (1) that it has communicated with and will communicate neither with Company A or anyone else concerning Company A's bids or bidding strategy, nor with Company C or anyone else concerning Company C's bids or bidding strategy, or (2) that it has not communicated with and will not communicate with Company D or anyone else concerning Company D's bids or bidding strategy. [63 FR 2341, Jan. 15, 1998, as amended at 63 FR 29958, June 2, 1998; 63 FR 50799, Sept. 23, 1998; 64 FR 59659, Nov. 3, 1999; 65 FR 52345, Aug. 29, 2000; 66 FR 54452, Oct. 29, 2001; 71 FR 15619, Mar. 29, 2006; 71 FR 26251, May 4, 2006]
Title 47: Telecommunication
PART 1—PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE
Subpart Q—Competitive Bidding Proceedings
General Procedures
§ 1.2105 Bidding application and certification procedures; prohibition of collusion.
