[Federal Register: April 28, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 81)]
[Notices]
[Page 22042-22043]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28ap05-74]
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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
[Report No. AUC-05-81-D (Auction No. 81); DA 05-1048]
Low Power Television Auction No. 81 Scheduled for September 14,
2005, Auction Inventory Revised, Applicants Proposing ``Non-Commercial
Educational Broadcast Station'' Must Respond by May 13, 2005
AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau and Media Bureau set
forth a revised list of construction permits for certain low power
television (``LPTV''), television translator and Class A television
broadcast stations available for auction in Auction No. 81.
DATE: Applicants seeking designation as a noncommercial educational
(``NCE'') station applicant must submit specified information to the
Commission no later than May 13, 2005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For auction questions: Lynne Milne,
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Auctions and Spectrum Access
Division at (202) 418-0660. For questions on auction inventory or NCE
status: Shaun Maher or Hossein Hasemzadeh, Media Bureau, Video Division
at (202) 418-1600.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Low Power
Television Auction No. 81 Scheduled for September 14, 2005, Auction
Inventory Revised, Application Proposing ``Non-Commercial Educational
Broadcast Station'' Must Respond By May 13, 2005 Public Notice (``LPTV
Revised Inventory Public Notice''), released on April 13, 2005. The
complete text of the LPTV Revised Inventory Public Notice, including
attachments that describe the changes to the Auction No. 81 inventory,
and related Commission documents, is available for public inspection
and copying from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday or from 8
a.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Friday at the FCC Reference Information Center,
Portals II, 445 12th Street, SW., Room CY-A257, Washington, DC 20554.
The LPTV Revised Inventory Public Notice and related Commission
documents may also be purchased from the Commission's duplicating
contractor, Best Copy and Printing, Inc. (``BCPI''), Portals II, 445
12th Street, SW., Room CY-B402, Washington, DC 20554, telephone (202)
488-5300, facsimile (202) 488-5563, or you may contact BCPI at its Web
site: http://www.BCPIWEB.com. When ordering documents from BCPI, please
provide the appropriate FCC document number (for example, DA 05-1048).
The LPTV Revised Inventory Public Notice and related documents are also
available on the Internet at the Commission's Web site: http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/81/
.
I. Bidders Claiming Status Under 47 U.S.C. 309(j)(2) Exemption for
``Noncommercial Educational Broadcast Stations'' Must Respond by May
13, 2005
1. Applications for construction permits for noncommercial
educational broadcast stations (``NCE stations'') are exempt from
competitive bidding by 47 U.S.C. 309(j)(2)(C). For purposes of Auction
No. 81, this exemption applies to a proposal for a new LPTV, television
translator or Class A television broadcast station that is owned and
operated by a municipality and which transmits only noncommercial
programs for educational purposes. See 47 U.S.C. 397(6)(B). In the NCE
Second Report and Order, 68 FR 26220-26222, May 15, 2003, the
Commission held that LPTV and television translator facilities qualify
as NCE stations under 47 U.S.C. 397(6)(B), only if they are owned and
operated by municipalities and transmit only NCE programs. Applications
for such NCE stations are exempt from auction.
2. In the same order, the Commission also stated that proposals for
NCE stations may be submitted for non-reserved spectrum in a filing
window, subject to being returned as unacceptable for filing if there
is any mutually exclusive application for a commercial station.
Accordingly, the Commission will provide applicants in Auction No. 81
with an opportunity to designate their status as an NCE station
applicant under the definition set forth in 47 U.S.C. 397(6)(B).
Applicants must understand that if they make such a claim and one or
more of the NCE applicant's engineering proposals is determined to be
mutually exclusive with one or more engineering proposals filed by an
applicant for a commercial station, the NCE station engineering
proposal(s) will be returned as unacceptable for filing.
3. To claim status as an NCE applicant, an applicant for Auction
No. 81 must submit an amendment to its short-form application (FCC Form
175) in the form of a written statement filed in an e-mail sent to
auction81@fcc.gov or by facsimile to Kathryn Garland at (717) 338-2850.
The written statement must declare the applicant's claim that it
qualifies as a municipality under the
[[Page 22043]]
definition set forth in 47 U.S.C. 397(6)(B). Specifically, the
applicant must state that it is: (1) Proposing to construct and operate
a noncommercial educational station; (2) it is a municipality, and (3)
it intends to transmit only noncommercial programs for educational
purposes. Applicants seeking designation as an NCE station applicant
must submit this specified information to the Commission no later than
May 13, 2005.
II. Dismissal of Engineering Proposals for Failure To Submit FRN
4. The LPTV Revised Inventory Public Notice lists the engineering
proposals that will no longer be included in Auction No. 81 as a result
of the applicant's failure to submit the requested FCC Registration
Number (FRN). The engineering proposals listed in Attachment B were
dismissed on April 13, 2005 for failure to submit an FRN pursuant to
authority delegated in 47 CFR 0.283 and 0.331. A listing of the
dismissed engineering proposals is provided in Attachment B to the LPTV
Revised Inventory Public Notice.
III. Revised Inventory
5. The LPTV Revised Inventory Public Notice corrects and replaces
the list of available construction permits released as Attachment A to
the Auction No. 81 Comment Public Notice, 70 FR 11975, March 10, 2005.
Due to the dismissal of some engineering proposals for failure to
submit an FRN, some engineering proposals became a singleton, an
engineering proposal that is not mutually-exclusive with any other
engineering proposal, and were removed from the auction inventory. The
removal of engineering proposals in some cases resulted in the removal
of entire mutually exclusive (MX) groups from the auction inventory.
Upon reexamination, we also removed from the auction inventory some MX
groups which consisted of ``daisy chain'' engineering proposals. In
addition, we removed from the auction inventory some engineering
proposals previously identified as singletons.
6. Participation in Auction No. 81 will be limited to those
applicants and mutually-exclusive (MX) engineering proposals that are
identified in the revised Attachment A. Qualified applicants will be
eligible to bid only on those construction permits for which the
applicant's engineering proposal is specified in the particular MX
group as identified in the revised Attachment A to the LPTV Revised
Inventory Public Notice.
IV. Retention of MX Group 56 in Auction
7. In response to the Auction No. 81 Comment Public Notice, a
licensee requested that MX group 56 be removed from the auction. For
the reasons explained in the LPTV Revised Inventory Public Notice, the
Commission declines to remove MX group 56 from Auction No. 81.
Federal Communications Commission.
Gary Michaels,
Deputy Chief, Auctions and Spectrum Access Division, WTB.
[FR Doc. 05-8599 Filed 4-27-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P