WASHINGTON-Comments submitted last week regarding new rules for the D-, E- and F-block personal communications services auctions generally support simultaneous auctions, keeping the definition of “small business” as is and the extension of small-business perks to D- and E-block bidders. There are, however, bones of contention where previous auction winners, and issues of race and gender, cellular cross-ownership and full disclosure are concerned.
The Federal Communications Commission still believes it can fast-track this docket in time to begin the next rounds of bidding sometime in July, with the goal of finishing in August. An aggregate 1,479 licenses will be awarded as a result of the three-block sale. One commenter, DCR Communications Inc., believes the auctions should not start until after C-block licenses have been awarded. “C-block applicants cannot realistically focus on the D-, E- and F-blocks until the C-block process is complete,” it wrote.
The idea of simultaneous auctions, according to most commenters, not only would get auctions off to a fast start, but they would allow some players to coordinate markets in hopes of aggregating licenses. A few wanted the D- and E-blocks auctioned first, and then the F-block for entrepreneurs. While one commenter suggested starting auctions in Stage 2, another wanted to keep them at one round per day, one block at a time.
Commenters also were in favor, for the most part, of extending small-business provisions (like installment payments and bidding credits) to qualified D- and E-block bidders. To cut down on speculation and to reduce any problems relating to possible “fronts,” as may have been experienced during the C-block auctions, there was a call for even higher up-front payments and for a cap on either the dollar amounts that could be bid or the number of pops that could be accrued.
“The commission should require bidders to submit a pre-auction upfront payment equal to 20 percent of the total amount bid during the auction,” wrote GO Communications Corp. “The 20-percent down payment would ensure that bidders could make their full 10-percent down payment at the time of licensing as well as cover a year’s worth of interest on the debt. The FCC could allow the amount of the down payment to be increased during the auction if prices become higher than originally forecast.” Commenter PersonalConnect Communications LLC advocates a 25 percent down payment.
Once again, the idea of race and/or gender set-asides was discussed. Most commenters were against anything of the sort, believing that such a move would be unconstitutional, that such set-asides could not withstand judicial review and that auctions would be delayed either by court challenges or by the effort to put together rules that could pass constitutional muster.
On the other hand, commenters representing women-owned businesses told the FCC that women would have little chance of succeeding in any auction situation without such set-asides, and that the commission’s current gender-based provisions that were put in place for the F-block would pass judicial review. “Patently, more gender-based incentives are needed, such as giving women-owned/controlled bidders an extra 10 percent discount over other small- business entities,” wrote Antigone Communications LP.
