General information and associated licensing parameters are provided below. Public Notices provide specific information regarding this auction. This fact sheet includes:

Auction No. 51 offered six regional Personal Communications Service (PCS) licenses. The spectrum auctioned was previously associated with licenses that were cancelled or terminated from Auction No. 3, which closed on November 8, 1994. See PN DA 03-1994 for a complete list of licenses available for Auction No. 51

The Commission broadly defines PCS as mobile and fixed communications offerings that serve individuals and businesses, and can be integrated with a variety of competing networks.

CMRS licenses are issued for a ten-year term from the initial license grant date. Regional licensees are required to construct base stations that provide coverage to a composite area of 150,000 square kilometers or serve 37.5 percent of the population of the service area within five years of initial license grant date; and, construct base stations that provide coverage to a composite area of 300,000 square kilometers or serve 75 percent of the of the service area population within ten years of initial license grant date. In the alternative, regional licensees may provide substantial service to the licensed area within ten years of license grant.

Bidding credits are available to small and very small businesses or consortia thereof, (as defined in 47 C.F.R. § 1.2110(c)). A bidding credit represents the amount by which a bidder's winning bids are discounted. The size of the bidding credit depends on the average of the aggregated annual gross revenues for each of the preceding three years of the bidder, its affiliates, its controlling interests, and the affiliates of its controlling interests:

• A bidder with attributed average annual gross revenues of not more than $40 million for the preceding three years receives a 15 percent discount on its winning bids for narrowband PCS licenses
• A bidder with attributed average annual gross revenues of not more than $15 million for the preceding three years receives a 25 percent discount on its winning bids for narrowband PCS licenses.

Bidding credits are not cumulative. A qualifying applicant receives either the 15 percent or 25 percent bidding credit on its winning bid, but not both.

A winning bidder that intends to use its license(s) to deploy facilities and provide services to federally-recognized tribal lands that are unserved by any telecommunications carrier or that have a telephone service penetration rate equal to or below 70 percent is eligible to receive a tribal land bidding credit as set forth in 47 C.F.R. § 1.2107 and 1.2110(f). A tribal land bidding credit is in addition to, and separate from, any other bidding credit for which a winning bidder may qualify.

Unlike other bidding credits that are requested prior to the auction, a winning bidder applies for the tribal land bidding credit after winning the auction when it files its long-form application (FCC Form 601). In order for a winning bidder to be awarded a tribal land bidding credit, it must provide specific certifications regarding the servicing of tribal lands and is subject to specific performance criteria as set forth in 47 C.F.R. § 1.2110(f).

Additional information on the tribal land bidding credit, including how the amount of the credit is calculated, can be found on the Commission's web site by going to Tribal Land Credits.

These licenses are not encumbered.

1. No spectrum or channel aggregation cap.
2. No eligibility restrictions.
3. Partitioning and/or disaggregation permitted at any time.
4. Part 1 unjust enrichment provisions apply.