Voglio sapere a riguardo di…

32794

Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 118 / Wednesday, June 23, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with RULES

assigned licenses for contiguous blocks within a category in a PEA. In addition, if in a PEA there are one or more bidders with clock phase winnings in both categories, one of the bidders will be assigned frequency blocks that are contiguous across the two categories.
2. Generic License Blocks in Two Bidding Categories 172. As established in the 3.45 GHz Second Report and Order, the 3.453.55
GHz band will be licensed in uniform 10-megahertz sub-blocks in each of the 406 PEAs in the contiguous United States. In most PEAs, new licensees generally will have unrestricted use of all ten frequency blocks. In other areas, specifically in PEAs that wholly or in part cover Cooperative Planning Areas or Periodic Use Areas, licensees must coordinate with incumbent federal operations in the band, as established in the 3.45 GHz Second Report and Order.
In some of the PEAs where coordination is required, all ten blocks will be subject to the same restrictions. In others, the restrictions may vary depending upon the frequency blockspecifically, in some PEAs subject to coordination with federal incumbents, the A through D
blocks may be subject to different restrictions than the E through J blocks.
As set forth in the 3.45 GHz Second Report and Order, the lower 40
megahertz of the bandbetween 3450
3490 MHz corresponding to the A
through D blocksare affected differently than the upper 60 megahertz in certain PEAs in the band. In the event Lockheed is granted relief substantially similar to that sought in its waiver request, the A through H blocks will be subject to different conditions than the I and J blocks in the three affected PEAs.
See Lockheed Waiver Request.
173. Categories. The Commission adopts the proposal to establish categories for bidding such that all the blocks within a category in a PEA are similar in terms of any requirements or restrictions. For the reasons proposed by the Commission, OEA and WTB adopt bidding categories as follows: In the PEAs where all ten blocks are the samei.e., all ten generally are unrestricted or all ten are subject to the same restrictionsthe ten generic blocks will be considered Category 1, or Cat1, blocks. In the PEAs subject to coordination with federal incumbents where the restrictions differ according to the frequency, the four blocks A
through D will be considered Category 1, or Cat1, while the six blocks E
through J will be considered Category 2, or Cat2, for bidding. In PEAs with two categories, we designate certain blocks as Cat1 and other blocks as Cat2 simply
VerDate Sep<11>2014

15:58 Jun 22, 2021

Jkt 253001

to denote that for these licenses the coordination requirements in a PEA
differ between the two categories. For all licenses, we caution potential bidders to investigate carefully the restrictions that may apply to a given PEA. In particular, we note that DoD has created a workbook that specifically describes the coordination requirements for each Cooperative Planning Area and Periodic Use Area. In 334 PEAs, there will be ten generic blocks of a single Cat1 product, and in 72 PEAs, there will be two products. OEA and WTB also note that in the three PEAs that encompass the areas subject to Lockheeds pending waiver request, the eight blocks A through H would be considered Cat1 while the two blocks I
and J would be considered Cat2 for bidding should relief substantially similar to that sought by Lockheed be granted.
174. This approach to determining bidding categories differs somewhat from the approach the Commission has taken in prior clock auctions, in that the coordination requirements on blocks in a given category in a given PEA may differ from the requirements on the same category of blocks in a different PEA. For example, the Cat1 blocks in one PEA may be unrestricted while the Cat1 blocks in another PEA may require some degree of coordination. Similarly, the restrictions on Cat2 blocks will likely vary from PEA to PEA. In previous auctions, blocks in a given bidding category generally have been subject to the same use requirements in all PEAs, but because the restrictions in this auction differ so widely from PEA
to PEA, that approach is not feasible.
Importantly, however, for Auction 110, within any given PEA, the blocks within a category can be considered generic, and bidding in the clock phase will determine a single price that will apply to each generic block in a category in a PEA.
175. This approach for bidding on generic blocks in two categories is based on the close similarity of the blocks within each bidding category within a PEA. To the extent a bidder has a preference for licenses for specific frequencies, the bidder may bid for its preferred blocks in the assignment phase. However, a bidder for a generic block in a category will not be assured that it will be assigned, or not be assigned, any particular frequency block.
176. Limit on number of blocks per bidder. In the 3.45 GHz Second Report and Order, the Commission adopted a spectrum aggregation limit for flexibleuse licenses in the 3.45 GHz band of a maximum of 40 megahertz i.e., four
PO 00000

Frm 00074

Fmt 4700

Sfmt 4700

blocks out of ten in any PEA at any point in time for four years post-auction.
Consistent with this limit on the number of blocks that a single entity can hold in any single PEA, the bidding system will limit to four the number of blocks that a bidder can demand in any given PEA at any point in the auction.
Therefore, in each bidding round, a bidder will have the opportunity to bid for a total of up to four blocks of spectrum per PEA. This spectrum aggregation limit will apply across both categories in PEAs that contain Cat1 and Cat2 blocks. As a result, no single entity will be permitted to bid on, for example, two Cat1 blocks and three Cat2 blocks within a single PEA. More specifically, the bidding system will not permit bids to be submitted that, if fully applied, would result in the bidder demanding more than four blocks in the PEA.
Further, the system will not fully apply submitted bids if doing so would result in the bidder demanding more than four blocks in the PEA. For example, a requested increase in one category may not be applied if a requested reduction in the other category cannot be applied because of insufficient aggregate demand.
177. An aggregation limit of four blocks will further the Commissions interest in promoting greater diversity in participation in the 3.45 GHz band by ensuring that, if licenses for all blocks in a PEA are awarded, there will be at least three winning bidders in the PEA.
3. Bidding Rounds 178. As proposed, Auction 110 will consist of sequential bidding rounds, each followed by the release of round results. OEA and WTB will conduct bidding simultaneously for all spectrum blocks in both bidding categories for all PEAs available in the auction. In the first bidding round of Auction 110, a bidder will indicate, for each product, the number of generic license blocks it demands at the minimum opening bid price.
179. The initial bidding schedule will be announced in a public notice to be released at least one week before the start of bidding. OEA will retain the discretion to adjust the bidding schedule in order to foster an auction pace that reasonably balances speed with the bidders need to study round results and adjust their bidding strategies. Such adjustments may include changes in the amount of time for bidding rounds, the amount of time between rounds, or the number of rounds per day, and will depend upon bidding activity and other factors.
180. Auction 110 will be conducted over the internet. A bidder will be able
E:FRFM23JNR1.SGM

23JNR1