Important Information for Participation in the Second Phase of the Two Phase Residual Licence Auction in the 2300 MHz and 3500 MHz Frequency Bands

This notice outlines the form and format for Phase Two of the residual licence auction. A simultaneous, multiple-round auction, conducted over the Internet, will serve as Phase Two. Confirmation of the timelines will follow shortly.

Background on Phase One

On July 17, 2004, the Department announced that it would make the spectrum unassigned in the February 2004 auction available through a two phase residual licence auction process (Gazette Notice DGRB-002-04 - Licensing Process for Unassigned 2300 MHz and 3500 MHz Spectrum Licences).

The first phase of the residual licence auction process commenced immediately upon the release of Gazette Notice DGRB-002-04, noted above. The spectrum licences available were listed as an attachment to the application form.

Unlike past auction processes, applicants were asked to identify the specific licences that they were interested in bidding on. Where an applicant becomes the qualified bidder and is the sole bidder on a licence, the applicant will be treated as the provisional licence winner of that licence. For Phase One, bidders will be given the opportunity to withdraw their bids following the posting of the list of all Phase One, Round 0 bids. A subset of that list will comprise the list of all Phase One licences receiving only one bid in Phase One, Round 0. Both lists will be updated at the end of the withdrawal period, which will signal the close of Phase One, Round 0.

The first updated list will outline the licences where there is more than one continued application (i.e. demand continues to exceed the supply after the opportunity for withdrawals), which will be allocated in the second phase of the auction. The second updated list will outline the provisional licence winners of licences which received only one bid in Phase One, Round 0. Both the pre- and post-withdrawal versions of the Phase One, Round 0 bids and results will be posted at: http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/sf06076e.html.

Implementation of Phase Two

The second phase of the auction is for the allocation of licences where the demand for licences exceeds the available supply. A simultaneous, multiple-round auction, conducted over the Internet, will serve as Phase Two.

Qualified Bidders will receive the Bidder Information document for the Two Phase Residual Licence Auction Process for the 2300 MHz and 3500 MHz Band, which will contain information on the mock auction, the schedule for the first week of the auction, and other instructions and information pertinent to the auction. An update on the status of applicants is available at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/sf06076e.html.

Bidders are strongly encouraged to consult the on-line, on-demand audio/video Internet streaming presentation (Webcast), for training on the use of the Auction Management System (AMS). The documentation and Webcast are available on the auction Web site at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/sf01640e.html. Bidders are also strongly encouraged to participate in the mock auction, to become familiar with the software.

Background on the February 2004 Auction

A complete list of provisional licence winners and respective licences awarded following the February 2004 auction is available at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/sf01503e.html.

Further details on the February 2004 spectrum auction licensing process are available on the Auction of the 2300 MHz and 3500 MHz Frequency Bands Web page, found at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/spectrumauctions.

Further details relating to this residual licence auction are available at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/internet/insmt-gst.nsf/en/sf06076e.html.