| A | |
| Absolute Increment | See Bid Increment. |
| Activity | A general reference regarding the level of bidder participation in an auction. |
| Activity Rules | To ensure that an auction closes within a reasonable period of time and to increase the information conveyed by bid prices during the auction, the Federal Communications Commission utilizes "activity rules" which prevent bidders from waiting until the end of the auction before participating. Bidders are required to bid actively or be active (have a standing high bid) on a certain percentage of their bidding units (purchased by upfront payment prior to the auction) in every round. The required level of activity increases in each stage of the auction. |
| Activity Rule Waiver | See Waiver (Activity Rule Waiver). |
| Automatic Waiver | See Waiver (Activity Rule Waiver). |
| Average Price (pop-weighted) | A measure of average price in dollars per pop in the auction, based on census data. The average price pop-weighted is calculated by dividing total auction revenue by the total population in the auction. |
| Average Price (unweighted) | A measure of average price in dollars per pop, calculated by averaging the price per unit of population for each license. The average price is calculated as the sum of the series: (revenue for each license/population for each license) / number of licenses. |
Return to Top |
|
| B | |
| Basic Trading Area (BTA) | A geographic area, based on the Rand McNally 1992 Commercial Atlas & Marketing Guide, 123rd Edition, pages 38-39, used by the Federal Communications Commission to define the coverage of spectrum licenses for certain services. The United States is divided into 487 BTAs. The Commission has further defined 6 other BTA-like areas: American Samoa; Guam; Northern Mariana Islands; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Mayaguez/Aguadilla-Ponce, Puerto Rico; and the United States Virgin Islands, for a total of 493 BTAs. |
| Bid Increment | An FCC-determined minimum amount by which a
bidder must increase a standing high bid. The bid increment is a fundamental
activity rule which helps ensure that the pace of an auction is sufficient.
Without a bid increment, bidders could increase bids by nominal amounts (such
as $1.00 over the previous high bid), thereby increasing the time required for
a license to reach its final value. Two frequently used methods of calculating
a bid increment are: Absolute Increment: A specific percentage amount (e.g., 10%) of the high bid. Exponential Smoothing: This method bases the bid increment for each license on a weighted average of the activity on that license in the most recently completed round and the activity on that license in all previous rounds. Simply put, when a license receives a substantial number of bids (three or more) the increment is higher, and when the number of bids decreases the increment is smaller. See Exponential Smoothing paper for more details. |
| Bid Removal | Before the close of a bidding period, a bidder has the option of removing any bids placed in that round. By using the remove bid function in the software, a bidder may effectively "unsubmit" any bid placed within that round. A bidder removing a bid placed in the same round is not subject to withdrawal payments. See also Bid Withdrawal. |
| Bid Withdrawal | Withdrawal of a high bid by the high bidder during the course of an ongoing auction. Bid withdrawals are subject to a withdrawal payment if the license ultimately sells for less than the withdrawn bid amount. The bid withdrawal activity rule serves to deter insincere bidding. |
| Bid Withdrawal Activity Rule | A service-specific procedure, that, when applied, limits the bidder to withdrawals in a specified number of rounds during the course of the auction. This rule is designed to deter insincere bidding. |
| Bidding Credit | A percentage discount applied to the high bid amount for a license if the bidder meets specific designated entity criteria established in the auction rules. Bidders must apply for bidding credits when they file the FCC Form 175. |
| Bidding Unit (BU) | A unit of measure applied to the licenses being auctioned and to the bidder's eligibility level. Prior to an auction, licenses are assigned a specific number of bidding units for the purpose of calculating bidder compliance with the activity rules in each stage of the auction. In addition, during the upfront payment phase, bidders must purchase a sufficient amount of bidding units to ensure they are eligible to place bids on the licenses they desire. In the majority of our auctions, each upfront payment dollar equates to one bidding unit. |
| Broker/Individual Sale | Real property in government sales programs is sometimes disposed of by using private real estate brokers to negotiate the sale. For example, HUD uses real estate brokers in the HUD Home sales program. The VA sales program also utilizes private real estate brokers when selling residential properties. The U.S. Marshals Service sells the majority of its forfeited real property through licensed real estate brokers using multiple listing services. |
| BTA | See Basic Trading Area. |
| BU | See Bidding Unit. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| C | |
|
Return to Top |
|
| D | |
| Down Payment | Each winning bidder in a typical auction must submit a down payment to the Federal Communications Commission in an amount sufficient to bring its total deposits up to 20 percent, or the amount specified in the auction procedures, of its winning bid within ten business days following the release of a public notice announcing the close of bidding. Upfront funds on deposit will be applied toward the down payment, after satisfying any withdrawal payments and/or defaulted net high bid amounts due. In certain auctions, e.g., where installment payments were permitted, bidders were able to break their initial down payment into two components: first and second down payments. See First Down Payment, Second Down Payment, Final Payment. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| E | |
| EA | See See Economic Area. |
| Economic Area (EA) | A geographic area established by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce and used by the Federal Communications Commission to define the coverage of spectrum licenses for certain services. There are 172 EAs, plus three EA-like areas, encompassing the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. See the Maps page and the EA Map for more details. |
| Electronic Remote Bidding | See Remote Electronic Bidding. |
| Eligibility Ratio | The ratio of total bidding units held by all bidders to the total bidding units for all licenses in the auction. The ratio will approach 1.0 as bidders drop eligibility. The eligibility ratio is a very informative predictor of an auction. A healthy eligibility ratio at the start of an auction is approximately 3 to 1, which basically means that there are three bidders for every license being auctioned. Examples of eligibility ratios for past auctions: PCS C Block auction 6.72 to 1, WCS auction 1.54 to 1. |
| Exponential Smoothing | See Bid Increment. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| F | |
| Final Payment | After verifying receipt of the proper down payment, reviewing the winning bidder's long-form application, and resolving any petitions to deny or other oppositions filed, the Federal Communications Commission will announce by public notice that the license is ready to be issued. A winning bidder that is not a small business will then have ten business days from the release of this public notice to submit the full balance of its winning bid. See also Down Payment, First Down Payment, Second Down Payment. |
| First Down Payment | Initial post-auction payment by an entity eligible to pay for a license(s) in installments. The amount of the first down payment is calculated as a specified percentage of the net high bid plus any applicable withdrawal payments for each license. After bidding has ended, the Federal Communications Commission will issue a public notice declaring the auction closed. Within a specified number of business days after release of an auction closing notice, each winning bidder must submit sufficient funds to bring the total amount of money on deposit with the government to a specified percentage of the sum of its net winning bids. The details of the amount and timing of the first down payment are auction-specific. See Down Payment, Second Down Payment, Final Payment. |
| Fixed Price sale | The Federal agency marks the merchandise with a particular price. The public may purchase the items for that set price at a public sale. The items are sold on a first-come, first-served basis. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| G | |
| General Wireless Communications Service (GWCS) | GWCS licensees may provide any fixed or mobile communications service except Broadcast services, Radiolocation services, and Satellite services on their assigned frequency. These include but are not limited to voice, video, and data transmission, private microwave, broadcast auxiliary, and ground-to-air voice and video. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| H | |
|
Return to Top |
|
| I | |
|
Return to Top |
|
| K | |
|
Return to Top |
|
| L | |
|
Return to Top |
|
| M | |
| Major Economic Area (MEA) | A geographic area established and used by the Federal Communications Commission to define the coverage of spectrum licenses for certain services. There are 52 MEAs, including 46 in the continental United States and 6 covering Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. See Major Economic Area (MEA) map for more details. |
| Major Trading Area (MTA) | A geographic area based upon the Rand McNally 1992 Commercial Atlas & Marketing Guide, 123rd Edition, pages 38-39, used by the Federal Communications Commission to define coverage of spectrum licenses for certain services. The Commission uses 51 MTAs, which include the 47 established by Rand McNally, with the following exceptions and additions: Alaska is separated from the Seattle MTA and is licensed separately; Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are licensed as a single MTA-like area; Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are licensed as a single MTA-like area; and American Samoa is licensed as a single MTA-like area. See Major Trading Area (MTA) map for more details. |
| MAS | See Multiple Address Systems. |
| Maximum Eligibility | The total number of bidding units a bidder is eligible to use in a single round. A bidder's maximum eligibility is initially established by the amount of its upfront payment. |
| MDS, MMDS | See Multipoint Distribution Service, Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service. |
| MEA | See Major Economic Area. |
| Milgrom-Wilson Activity Rule | An activity rule that requires bidders to declare their maximum eligibility in advance of the auction and make an upfront payment proportional to that eligibility level. The Milgrom-Wilson activity rule provides that a bidder's minimum activity level, measured as a fraction of eligibility, will increase during the course of the auction, generally proceeding through three auction stages. See Stages. |
| Minimum Acceptable Bid | Once there is a standing high bid on a license, a bid increment will be applied to that license to establish a minimum acceptable bid for the following round. |
| Mock Auction | A simulated auction conducted by Federal Communications Commission staff before the start of an auction, allowing potential bidders to become familiar with the auction bidding software. |
| Multipoint Distribution Service (MDS), Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) | Provides wireless cable as a multichannel video distribution medium to compete with wired cable systems. As of June 1997, there are a maximum of thirty-three microwave channels used for wireless cable in each market which includes ITFS (Instructional Television Fixed Service). MDS operates between 2150-2162 MHz, 2596-2602 MHz, 2608-2614 MHz, 2620-2626 MHz, 2632-2638 MHz, 2602-2608 MHz, 2614-2620 MHz, 2626-2632 MHz, 2638-2644 MHz, 2650-2656 MHz, 2662-2668 MHz, 2674-2680 MHz. ITFS operates between 2500-2596 MHz, 2644-2650 MHz, 2656-2662 MHz, 2668-2674 MHz and 2680-2686 MHz. Note: In 1992, the 2160-2162 MHz frequency was reallocated as emerging technologies; thus, any subsequent MDS use of these 2 MHz will be secondary. For further information, consult Part 21, Subpart K of the Federal Communications Commission's Rules. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| N | |
| Net High Bid | The current high bid, adjusted by the percentage of a high bidder's bidding credits. |
| Net Revenue | The total net high bids for all licenses in the auction. |
| Net Winning Bid | The net high bid at the close of the auction. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| P | |
| Pop | Abbreviated term for population. One pop equals one person. The Federal Communications Commission currently uses the 1990 census as a measure of population. |
| Price per Pop | See Average Price (pop-weighted), Average Price (unweighted). |
| Proactive Waiver | See Waiver (Activity Rule Waiver). |
| Public Auction | The Federal agency follows traditional auction procedures and gives prospective buyers a description of the property to be auctioned along with bidding instructions before the auction. The auctioneer conducting the sale offers the property item-by-item and awards the item to the highest bidder. When buying through an auction, the buyer must be present to bid, unlike the sealed bid method, which is conducted by mail. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| Q | |
| Qualified Bidders | Those applicants whose FCC Form 175 applications have been accepted for filing and that have timely submitted upfront payments sufficient to make them eligible to bid on at least one of the licenses for which they applied. All qualified bidders are automatically registered for the auction. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| R | |
| Remote Electronic Bidding | Bidding procedure which enables bidders who have registered in advance and purchased the bidding software to place and withdraw bids and retrieve round results and other auction-related information from remote locations using a PC and modem to access the Federal Communications Commission's wide area network. |
| Round | An auction round consists of a bidding period and a round results period. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| S | |
| Sealed Bid | The Federal agency prepares an "Invitation for Bid", an informational sheet that contains all the information you need to bid on the item. The sheet describes the property being offered for sale and includes the terms and conditions of sale. If interested, you submit your bid to the agency, usually by mail. On the bid opening date, the bids are read publicly and the award is made to the highest bidder who has correctly followed the required procedures. |
| Sealed Bidders Auction | A sales method that combines aspects of the sealed bid and auction methods. Bidders submit sealed bids on the item being offered for sale and the highest sealed bidders are then allowed to participate in a public auction. The bidding starts with the highest sealed bid. |
| Second Down Payment | Second post-auction payment by an entity eligible to pay for a license in installments. Payment is made a specified number of days after notification by the Federal Communications Commission of its intent to grant or make conditional grant of license(s). Payment is a specified percentage of the net high bid of each license. See also Down Payment, First Down Payment, Final Payment. |
| Short-Form Application | See Form 175. |
| Simultaneous Multiple Round Auctions | An auction design in which all licenses are offered simultaneously, in a series of separate rounds. If a simultaneous stopping rule is employed, bidding closes only after one round passes in which there are no new valid bids on any of the licenses, no proactive waivers are submitted, and no bid withdrawals. |
| Simultaneous Stopping Rule | An activity rule which states that an auction will close only after a round in which no new bids, withdrawals, or proactive waivers are received. The FCC retains the discretion to keep an auction open even if no new acceptable bids and no proactive waivers are submitted as specified in the auction rules. |
| Smoothing Methodology | Bases the bid increment for each license on a weighted average of the activity on that license in the most recently completed round and the activity on that license in all previous rounds. Simply put, when a license receives a substantial number of bids (three or more) the increment is higher, and when the number of bids decreases the increment is smaller. See Smoothing Methodology paper for more details. See Bid Increment. |
| Spot Bid | Bidders are usually required to attend the sale to place their bid in written form. The property is offered item-by-item, as in an auction. However, in an auction, the bids are voiced; with the spot bid method, the written form allows a one-time chance for the bidder. The highest bidder is announced publicly, receives the award, and the sale is made. Buyers are encouraged to be present at the award. |
| Stages | Typically, a Federal Communications Commission simultaneous multiple round auction employs an activity rule which divides the auction into three stages. Each stage requires bidders to use a certain percentage of their total bidding units in order to maintain maximum eligibility (e.g., Stage I, 60% of their bidding units; Stage II, 80%; and Stage III, 98%). In a given stage, if a bidder's activity falls below the required level, an automatic waiver will be submitted on the bidder's behalf if the bidder has waivers remaining. If a bidder has no waivers remaining or elects to override the automatic waiver function, its eligibility will be permanently reduced to bring it into compliance with the activity rule. |
| Stage Transition Percentage | A percentage calculated by dividing the total number of bidding units of licenses receiving high bids in the current round by the total number of bidding units for all licenses in the auction. Named the "Stage Transition Percentage" because this percentage is the primary factor in determining when an auction transitions to a subsequent stage. See also Stages. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| T | |
| Telephonic Bidding | Bidding procedure that enables bidders to place and withdraw bids by telephoning a Federal Communications Commission Bid Assistant. |
| Total Net High Bids | The total of all net high bids. This total does not include withdrawal payments, defaulted net high bids, or pioneer's preference payments. |
| Total Net High Revenue | The total of all net high bids plus withdrawal payments, defaulted net high bids, and pioneer's preference payments. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| U | |
| Upfront Payment | Payment made by bidders prior to the beginning of the auction in order to establish the initial eligibility of a bidder, representing the maximum number of bidding units on which the applicant will be permitted to bid initially. For more specific information regarding a particular service, consult applicable service rules and auction public notices. See Bidding Units. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| V | |
| Valid Bid | A bid which meets or exceeds the minimum acceptable bid for a license. |
|
Return to Top |
|
| W | |
| Waiver (Activity Rule Waiver) | Each bidder is provided a predetermined
number of waivers at the start of an auction (e.g., five) that can be used
during a bidding period to preserve bidding unit eligibility despite having an
activity level below the required minimum. A waiver will preserve current
eligibility in the next round and applies to an entire bidding round.
Proactive Waiver: A waiver submitted by the bidder during the bidding period. A proactive waiver (1) will preserve a bidder's eligibility in a round when the bidder does not meet the activity requirement, and (2) will keep the auction open in the event that no bids are placed in the round in which the proactive waiver is placed. Automatic Waiver: A waiver applied automatically by the bidding system if a round closes and a bidder is below the required activity level. An activity waiver will not keep the auction open in the event that no bids or proactive waivers are submitted during the bidding period. |
| Withdrawal Payment | Payment required because a bidder withdrew a high bid during the auction and no other winning bids were made at or above the withdrawn bid amount. |