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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 41 / Thursday, March 4, 2021 / Proposed Rules facilities of the four AM stations.
Because protections extend to the previously licensed facility parameters, applicants will be limited in their opportunities to modify these AM
permits.
7. FM Construction Permits. Auction 109 will also offer 136 construction permits in the FM broadcast service.
The construction permits to be auctioned include all of the 130 FM
allotments that had previously been listed in the inventory for Auction 106
as well as six additional FM allotments.
The FM allotments offered in Auction 109 include 34 construction permits that were offered but not sold or were defaulted upon in prior auctions.
Attachment A identifies those previously offered permits and the auctions in which they were offered.
8. Attachment A to the Auction 109
Comment Public Notice lists the specific vacant FM allotments for which the Commission will offer construction permits in this auction, along with the reference coordinates for each vacant FM allotment. These comprise FM
channels added to the Table of FM
Allotments, 47 CFR 73.202b, pursuant to the Commissions established rulemaking procedures and assigned at the indicated communities.
9. Each applicant in the FM service has the opportunity to submit a set of preferred site coordinates as an alternative to the reference coordinates for the vacant FM allotment upon which the applicant intends to bid. A future public notice announcing the procedures for Auction 109 will provide guidelines for completing FCC Form 175
and exhibits, including detailed instructions for specifying preferred site coordinates.

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III. Proposed Bidding Procedures 10. Simultaneous Multiple-Round Auction Design. OEA and MB propose to use the Commissions simultaneous multiple-round auction format for Auction 109. As described further below, this type of auction offers every construction permit for bid at the same time and consists of successive bidding rounds in which qualified bidders may place bids on individual construction permits. Typically, bidding remains open on all construction permits until bidding stops on every construction permit. OEA and MB invite comment on this proposal.
11. Bidding Rounds. The Commission will conduct Auction 109 over the internet using the FCC auction bidding system. A bidder will also have the option of placing bids by telephone through a dedicated auction bidder line.

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12. Under this proposal, Auction 109
will consist of sequential bidding rounds, each of which would be followed by the release of round results.
The initial bidding schedule will be announced in a public notice to be released at least one week before the start of bidding.
13. OEA and MB propose that the initial bidding schedule may be adjusted in order to foster an auction pace that reasonably balances speed with the bidders need to study round results and adjust their bidding strategies. Under this proposal, such changes may include the amount of time for the bidding rounds, the amount of time between rounds, or the number of rounds per day, depending upon bidding activity and other factors. OEA
and MB request comment on this proposal. Commenters on this issue should address the role of the bidding schedule in managing the pace of the auction, specifically discussing the tradeoffs in managing auction pace by bidding schedule changes, by changing the activity requirements or bid amount parameters, or by using other means.
14. Stopping Rule. In accordance with 47 CFR 1.2104e, stopping rules are established before or during multiple round auctions in order to complete the auction within a reasonable time. For Auction 109, OEA and MB propose to employ a simultaneous stopping rule approach, which means all construction permits remain available for bidding until bidding stops on every construction permit. Specifically, bidding will close on all construction permits after the first round in which no bidder submits any new bid, applies a proactive activity rule waiver, or withdraws any provisionally winning bid if bid withdrawals are permitted in this auction. Thus, under the proposed simultaneous stopping rule, bidding would remain open on all construction permits until bidding stops on every construction permit. Consequently, under this approach, it is not possible to determine in advance how long the bidding in this auction will last.
15. Further, OEA and MB propose to retain the discretion to exercise any of the following stopping options during Auction 109: 1 The auction would close for all construction permits after the first round in which no bidder applies a waiver, no bidder withdraws a provisionally winning bid if withdrawals are permitted in this auction, or no bidder places any new bid on a construction permit for which it is not the provisionally winning bidder. Absent any other bidding activity, a bidder placing a new bid on
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a construction permit for which it is the provisionally winning bidder would not keep the auction open under this modified stopping rule. 2 The auction would close for all construction permits after the first round in which no bidder applies a waiver, no bidder withdraws a provisionally winning bid if withdrawals are permitted in this auction, or no bidder places any new bid on a construction permit that already has a provisionally winning bid.
Absent any other bidding activity, a bidder placing a new bid on an FCCheld construction permit a construction permit that does not already have a provisionally winning bid would not keep the auction open under this modified stopping rule. 3 The auction would close using a modified version of the simultaneous stopping rule that combines 1 and 2 above. 4 The auction would close after a specified number of additional rounds special stopping rule to be announced in advance in the FCC auction bidding system. If this special stopping rule is invoked, bids will be accepted in the specified final rounds, after which the auction will close. 5 The auction would remain open even if no bidder places any new bid, applies a waiver, or withdraws any provisionally winning bid if withdrawals are permitted in this auction. In this event, the effect will be the same as if a bidder had applied a waiver. The activity rule will apply as usual, and a bidder with insufficient activity will either lose bidding eligibility or use a waiver.
16. OEA and MB propose to exercise these options only in certain circumstances, for example, where the auction is proceeding unusually slowly or quickly, there is minimal overall bidding activity, or it appears likely that the auction will not close within a reasonable period of time or will close prematurely. Before exercising these options, OEA and MB will likely attempt to change the pace of the auction by changing the number of bidding rounds per day or the minimum acceptable bids, for example. OEA and MB propose to retain the discretion to exercise any of these options with or without prior announcement during the auction. OEA and MB request comment on these proposals. Commenters should provide specific reasons for supporting or objecting to these proposals.
17. Auction Delay, Suspension, or Cancellation. Pursuant to 47 CFR
1.2104i, OEA and MB may delay, suspend, or cancel bidding in the auction, at any time before or during the bidding process of Auction 109, in the event of a natural disaster, technical obstacle, network interruption,
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