PUBLIC NOTICE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 1919 M STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554 News media information (202) 418-0500. Recorded listing of releases and texts (202) 418-2222. DA 97-11 January 3, 1997 AUCTION OF CELLULAR UNSERVED AREA LICENSES (Auction No. 12) Mock Auction Scheduled for January 9, 1997 Report No. AUC-96-12-E (Auction No. 12) The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will conduct a mock electronic auction on January 9, 1997 for the purpose of better acquainting cellular unserved area auction qualified bidders with the electronic bidding software and process. This mock auction will be open only to cellular unserved area auction qualified bidders who are eligible to bid electronically as a result of submitting or resubmitting their FCC Form 175 short-form applications electronically. Pre-registration will not be required. This auction will include A and B block cellular unserved area licenses in five markets (R317, R319, R323, R336, R341, a total of 10 licenses), and will follow the rules governing the cellular unserved area auction. The program will assume that each bidder applied for all 10 licenses and submitted upfront payments of $50,000 corresponding to 50,000 bidding units. The auction will simulate the start of Stage I, so bidders will be required to be active on at least 80 percent of their bidding units, or else face a reduction in bidding eligibility. The mock auction will consist of two rounds, with the following schedule (all times refer to the Eastern time zone): Round 1 Round 2 Bid Submission 9:00-11:00 a.m. 1:00-3:00 p.m. Bid Submission Round Results 11:00-11:30 a.m. 3:00-3:30 p.m. Bid Withdrawal 11:30-12:00 noon 3:30-4:00 p.m. Bid Withdrawal Round Results 12:00-12:30 p.m. 4:00-4:30 p.m. Eligible cellular unserved area bidders who wish to participate in the mock auction will establish a PPP connection to the FCC Auction Network through either a 202-area-code number or a 900 number, as selected through the mock auction software. (The FCC encourages participants to test their ability to connect using the 900 number, in order to identify any potential problems such as a 900-number telephone block. There will be no access charge for the first minute of the 900-number connection time.) When participants establish the PPP connection and start the Mock Bid Submission/Withdrawal system, they will register for the mock auction by entering their FCC account numbers. The login names, login passwords, and Bidder Identification Numbers (BINs) will be pre-filled. (Pre-filled codes are for the mock auction only. For the actual cellular unserved area auction, valid login codes and BINs will be mailed to qualified bidders with their registration materials.) The auction identification for the mock auction is 72. Remote bidding software for the mock auction will be available via the FCC's Internet and Bulletin Board System beginning Tuesday, January 7, 1997. See Attachment A. This software is specifically designed for this simulation, and is not adaptable to any FCC spectrum auctions. As part of the software, the Commission has established a suggestion box, and welcomes your comments regarding the software. For additional information regarding this public notice, please contact the FCC Auctions Technical Support Hotline, at 202-414-1250. - FCC - ATTACHMENT A INSTRUCTIONS FOR DOWNLOADING AND INSTALLING THE FCC MOCK AUCTION BIDDING SYSTEM Those applicants who wish to participate in the FCC Mock Auction will need at a minimum the following hardware and software: Hardware Requirements:  CPU: Intel 80486 or above  RAM: 8MB RAM (more recommended if you have multiple applications open)  Hard Disk: 12MB available disk space  Modem: v.32bis 14.4kbps Hayes compatible modem  Monitor: VGA or above  Mouse or other pointing device To create backup installation disks for the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System, you will need the following:  1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive  Three (3) blank MS-DOS formatted 1.44MB floppy disks Software Requirements:  FCC Mock Auction Bidding System (available through the Internet and the FCC Bulletin Board System)  Microsoft Windows 3.1 or Microsoft Windows for Workgroups v3.11 in an enhanced mode Note: The FCC Mock Auction Bidding System has not been tested in a Macintosh, OS/2, or Windows95 environment. Therefore, the FCC will not support operating systems other than Microsoft Windows 3.1 or Microsoft Windows for Workgroups v3.11 in an enhanced mode. This includes any other emulated Windows environment. If your Windows is in a networked environment, you should check with your local network administrator for any potential conflicts with the PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) Dialer that is included with the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System. Such conflicts may occur with any TCP/IP installed network protocol. The PPP Dialer that is included with the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System will establish a point-to-point connection from your PC to the FCC Network. THIS POINT-TO-POINT CONNECTION IS NOT ROUTED THROUGH THE INTERNET. Applicants who wish to participate in the FCC Mock Auction must first download the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System from either the Internet or the FCC Bulletin Board System (File Names: mockv36a.exe, mockv36b.exe, mockv36c.exe). Internet Access: In order to download the compressed files from the Internet, you will need to have access to the Internet and an ftp client software as follows: o World Wide Web: ftp://ftp.fcc.gov Once you connect to the FCC ftp server via the World Wide Web, select the following directory and download the following files: Directory: /pub/Auctions/Mock/Programs Files: mockv36a.exe, mockv36b.exe, mockv36c.exe o FTP: The following instructions are for the command line version of ftp. 1. Connect to the FCC ftp server by typing ftp ftp.fcc.gov 2. At the user name prompt, type anonymous [Enter] 3. At the password prompt, type your Internet e-mail address [Enter] 4. To allow the files to be downloaded type: binary [Enter] 5. Change your current directory to the Programs directory by typing: cd /pub/Auctions/Mock/Programs [Enter] 6. Use the get command to download the files from the FCC ftp server by typing: get mockv36a.exe [Enter] get mockv36b.exe [Enter] get mockv36c.exe [Enter] 7. If you wish to exit, type: bye [Enter] o Gopher: gopher.ftp.fcc.gov or use any gopher to get to "all the gophers in the world" then 'U.S.' then 'DC' then 'FCC'. Once you connect to the FCC ftp server via Gopher, select the following directory and download the following files: Directory: /pub/Auctions/Mock/Programs Files: mockv36a.exe, mockv36b.exe, mockv36c.exe Dial-In Access to the FCC Auction Bulletin Board System (BBS): The FCC Auction Bulletin Board System provides dial-in access for the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System. In order to access the FCC Auction BBS, use a communications package that can handle at least xmodem protocol (e.g., pcAnyWhere, Telix, Procomm) to dial in to (202) 682-5851. Use the settings of 8 data bits, no parity and 1 stop bit (8,N,1). o For new users follow steps 1-5, otherwise go to step 6 in the ANSI Protocol Instructions section or the Non-ANSI Protocol Instructions section (whichever is applicable): 1. Type New and press [Enter]. If the word ANSI is blinking, type Y for yes. If the word ANSI is not blinking, type N for No 2. Type in your first and last name and press [Enter]. This will be your login name 3. Type in Y and press [Enter] when asked to verify your login name 4. Type in what you want your password to be and press [Enter] 5. Retype the password for verification and press [Enter] o ANSI Protocol Instructions (once the account is generated): 6. Type C for Mock Auction Files and press [Enter] 7. Type P for Programs and press [Enter] 8. Type C for Current Library and press [Enter] 9. Move the cursor to the file named mockv36a.exe, press [Control-D] for Download and press [Enter] (You may need to change the transfer protocol first -- please see the note below.) 10. The FCC Auction BBS will begin transferring the file. You may need to give your terminal emulation software a command to receive the file; please consult your terminal emulation software manual for instructions concerning how to do so. 11. Type X to return to the Programs menu. Repeat steps 9 and 10 to download the following files: mockv36b.exe, mockv36c.exe 12. Type X to return to the Programs menu, then type X again. Type X to Exit and press [Enter] and continue to do so until asked if you want to Exit the BBS. Press Y for Yes when asked to verify that you want to exit. o Non-ANSI Protocol Instructions (once the account is generated): 6. Type C for Mock Auction Files and press [Enter] 7. Type P for Programs and press [Enter] 8. Type C for Current Library and press [Enter] 9. Type the letter next to the file named mockv36a.exe and press [Enter] 10. Type D for Download now and press [Enter] (You may need to change the transfer protocol first -- please see the note below.) 11. The FCC Auction BBS will begin transferring the file. You may need to give your terminal emulation software a command to receive the file; please consult your terminal emulation software manual for instructions concerning how to do so. 12. Repeat steps 9 through 11 to download the following files: mockv36b.exe, mockv36c.exe 13. Type X, then type X to Exit and press [Enter] and continue to do so until asked if you want to Exit the BBS. Press Y for Yes when asked to verify that you want to exit. NOTE: To download files, you will need to match the transfer protocol on your BBS account to the transfer protocol set in your terminal emulation software. To set the BBS transfer protocol, return to the initial menu and type L for Library and [Enter], P for Preferences and [Enter], and P for File Transfer Protocol and [Enter]. Type the letter next to the protocol you desire and press [Enter]. You may now download files. Creating Installation Disks from the Downloaded File The FCC Mock Auction Bidding System files are downloaded in a self-extracting, compressed file format. When you have downloaded all of the compressed files, you must extract the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System from those files. To extract the software, start File Manager in the Main Program group, open the file folder where you downloaded the files, and double-click on mockv36a.exe. A message will appear listing the default directory to which the software will extract. If this directory does not exist, it will be created automatically. Press Unzip to begin extracting the software from the compressed file. When the extraction is complete, a message will appear listing the number of files that were unzipped. Press OK and repeat the above process for the remaining compressed files (mockv36b.exe, mockv36c.exe). Be sure to extract to the same directory as the first compressed file. Installing the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System After you extract the software from the compressed files, you must install the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System. To install the software, start File Manager, open the file folder to which you extracted the software and double-click on setup.exe. When the setup program begins, a screen will appear listing the default directory to which the software will install. Press the Install button, then press OK to install to the specified directory. If the directory does not exist, the setup program will create it automatically. When the installation is complete, a message may appear asking you to restart Windows so that the changes made by the installation may take effect. Press Restart to restart Windows, or press Stay Here if you wish to restart at a later time. Do not use the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System until you restart Windows. Creating Backup Installation Disks To create backup installation disks for the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System, go to File Manager, open the file folder to which you extracted the software, double-click on backup.bat, and follow the instructions on the screen. Running the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System When you have finished installing the software, you will have a new Program Manager group called FCC Mock Auction v3.6 with the following icons: Configure PPP, PPP Dialer, Ping, Bid Submission/Withdrawal, Round Results Viewer, Suggestion Box, Announcements, Messages and Readme. You must verify/modify the parameters in the Configure PPP program prior to establishing a PPP connection. Please see the readme file associated with the software for further information regarding Configure PPP. For technical assistance in installing or using this software, contact the FCC Technical Support Hotline at (202) 414-1250. The FCC Technical Support Hotline will be generally available Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. Uninstalling the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System To uninstall the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System, start File Manager and delete the directory to which you installed the software, then switch to Program Manager and delete the FCC Mock Auction v3.6 icons and group. You may delete the files and directory to which you extracted the software after installing the FCC Mock Auction Bidding System and (optionally) creating backup installation diskettes. Help Detailed instructions for using all FCC remote electronic auction system software can be found in the readme file associated with the software and in the context-sensitive help function associated with each software system. For technical assistance in downloading, extracting or installing this software, contact the FCC Technical Support Hotline at (202) 414-1250. The FCC Technical Support Hotline will be generally available Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.