Competitive Bidding Procedures

In this document the Commission declines to adopt a total assets test as part of its determination of small business eligibility in the context of spectrum auctions deciding that the potential benefit from such a test does not justify the difficulty of its use. Instead, the Commission will continue to rely on the gross revenues test already employed. The Commission adopts exceptions to the controlling interest standard's fully diluted requirements for "rights of first refusal" and "put" options. The two exceptions are consistent with the Commission's underlying goal of assuring that the decision of whether and when to transfer a license won by a designated entity rests with those in control of the designated entity. In addition, the Commission clarifies that mutually exclusive contingent ownership interests are to be considered fully diluted only in the possible combinations in which those interests can be exercised by their holder(s). This clarification offers a common sense approach to evaluating ownership interests that could not possibly be given simultaneous or successive effect.