§ 27.204 - Bidding application and certification procedures; prohibition of collusion.

(a) Submission of Short-Form Application (FCC Form 175). In order to be eligible to bid, an applicant must timely submit, by means of electronic filing, a short-form application (FCC Form 175). Unless otherwise provided by public notice, the Form 175 need not be accompanied by an upfront payment (see § 27.205).

(1) All Form 175s will be due on the date specified by public notice.

(2) The Form 175 must contain the following information:

(i) Identification of each license on which the applicant wishes to bid;

(ii) The applicant's name, if the applicant is an individual. If the applicant is a corporation, then the short-form application will require the name and address of the corporate office and the name and title of an officer or director. If the applicant is a partnership, then the application will require the names, citizenship and addresses of all partners, and, if a partner is not a natural person, then the name and title of a responsible person should be included as well. If the applicant is a trust, then the name and address of the trustee will be required. If the applicant is none of the above, then it must identify and describe itself and its principals or other responsible persons;

(iii) The identity of the person(s) authorized to make or withdraw a bid;

(iv) If the applicant applies as a designated entity pursuant to section 27.210(b), a statement to that effect and a declaration, under penalty of perjury, that the applicant is qualified as a designated entity under § 27.210(b).

(v) Certification that the applicant is legally, technically, financially and otherwise qualified pursuant to section 308(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. The Commission will accept applications certifying that a request for waiver or other relief from the requirements of section 310 is pending;

(vi) Certification that the applicant is in compliance with the foreign ownership provisions of section 310 of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended;

(vii) Certification that the applicant is and will, during the pendency of its application(s), remain in compliance with any service-specific qualifications applicable to the licenses on which the applicant intends to bid including, but not limited to, financial qualifications. The Commission may require certification in certain services that the applicant will, following grant of a license, come into compliance with certain service-specific rules, including, but not limited to, ownership eligibility limitations;

(viii) An exhibit, certified as truthful under penalty of perjury, identifying all parties with whom the applicant has entered into partnerships, joint ventures, consortia or other agreements, arrangements or understandings of any kind relating to the licenses being auctioned, including any such agreements relating to the post-auction market structure;

(ix) Certification under penalty of perjury that it has not entered and will not enter into any explicit or implicit agreements, arrangements or understandings of any kind with any parties other than those identified pursuant to paragraph (a)(2)(viii) of this section regarding the amount of their bids, bidding strategies or the particular licenses on which they will or will not bid; and

(x) Certification under penalty of perjury that it is not in default on any Commission licenses and that it is not delinquent on any extension of credit from any federal agency.

Note to paragraph (a):

The Commission may also request applicants to submit additional information for informational purposes to aid in its preparation of required reports to Congress.

(b) Modification and Amendment of Application. Applicants will be permitted to amend their Form 175 applications to make minor amendments to correct minor errors or defects such as typographical errors. Applicants will also be permitted to amend FCC Form 175 to make changes to the information required by § 27.204(a) (such as ownership changes or changes in the identification of parties to bidding consortia), provided such changes do not result in a change in control of the applicant and do not involve another applicant (or parties in interest to an applicant) who has applied for licenses in any of the same geographic license areas as the applicant. Amendments which change control of the applicant will be considered major amendments. An FCC Form 175 which is amended by a major amendment will be considered to be newly filed and cannot be resubmitted after applicable filing deadlines. See also § 1.2105 of this chapter.

(c) Prohibition of collusion. (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (c)(2), (c)(3) and (c)(4) of this section, after the filing of short-form applications, all applicants are prohibited from cooperating, collaborating, discussing or disclosing in any manner the substance of their bids or bidding strategies, or discussing or negotiating settlement agreements, with other applicants until after the high bidder makes the required down payment, unless such applicants are members of a bidding consortium or other joint bidding arrangement identified on the bidder's short-form application pursuant to § 27.204(a)(2)(viii).

(2) Applicants may modify their short-form applications to reflect formation of consortia or changes in ownership at any time before or during an auction, provided such changes do not result in a change in control of the applicant, and provided that the parties forming consortia or entering into ownership agreements have not applied for licenses in any of the same geographic license areas. Such changes will not be considered major modifications of the application.

(3) After the filing of short-form applications, applicants may make agreements to bid jointly for licenses, provided the parties to the agreement have not applied for licenses in any of the same geographic license areas.

(4) After the filing of short-form applications, a holder of a non-controlling attributable interest in an entity submitting a short-form application may acquire an ownership interest in, form a consortium with, or enter into a joint bidding arrangement with, other applicants for licenses in the same geographic license area, provided that:

(i) The attributable interest holder certifies to the Commission that it has not communicated and will not communicate with any party concerning the bids or bidding strategies of more than one of the applicants in which it holds an attributable interest, or with which it has a consortium or joint bidding arrangement, and which have applied for licenses in the same geographic license area(s); and

(ii) The arrangements do not result in any change in control of an applicant.

(5) Applicants must modify their short-form applications to reflect any changes in ownership or in the membership of consortia or joint bidding arrangements.

(6) For purposes of this paragraph:

(i) The term “applicant” shall include the entity submitting a short-form application to participate in an auction (FCC Form 175), as well as all holders of partnership and other ownership interests and any stock interest amounting to 5 percent or more of the entity, or outstanding stock, or outstanding voting stock of the entity submitting a short-form application, and all officers and directors of that entity; and

(ii) The term “bids or bidding strategies” shall include capital calls or requests for additional funds in support of bids or bidding strategies.