Regulation
1 (10)
FICORA 64A/2016 M
Unofficial translation
Regulation 64A
ON AUCTIONING OF NETWORK LICENCES IN THE 703 - 733 MHZ AND
758 - 788 MHZ BANDS
Issued in Helsinki on 10 October 2016
The Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority has, under
section 12 of the Information Society Code (917/2014), laid
down as follows:
Section 1
Scope of application
This Regulation lays down provisions on registration for
auctioning of network licences in the bands 703 - 733 MHz and
758 - 788 MHz referred to in the Government Decree on radio
spectrum auction (840/2016) and the process and procedures
applied in the auction.
Section 2
Registration period
The registration for the auction must be at FICORA no later
than on 7 November 2016 at 4.15 p.m. Registration forms
arriving late will be disqualified.
Section 3
Information to be given at registration
Registration for the auction must be made in writing, by using
the registration form in Annex 1 of this Regulation.
The registration must include the following information of the
company or organisation:
1) name and business ID or, in the case of a foreign company
or organisation, corresponding business identity code;
2) postal address;
3) name, telephone number and email address of a contact
person who is authorised to represent the company or
organisation in the auction;
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4) description of the group structure and of effective control in
the company or organisation.
All information required must be given and the registration form
must be signed by an authorised signatory. The authority to
sign must be clearly indicated in an extract from the trade
register, in a corresponding foreign document or in a separate
power of attorney.
All documents must be submitted either in Finnish, Swedish or
English.
Any changes in the information given in the registration must
be notified to FICORA in writing without delay.
Section 4
Contact person
FICORA will direct documents and other correspondence
pertaining to the auction only to the contact person named in
the registration form. It is the bidder's responsibility to ensure
that the contact information is correct and up-to-date and that
the contact person is available starting from the date of
registration until the end of the auction.
Section 5
Auction system
The auction will be conducted electronically. The bidder is
responsible for having necessary tools for an online auction.
FICORA will deliver the log-in information and passwords to the
contact person referred to in section 4 by registered letter to
the postal address given in the registration form.
Section 6
Paired frequency blocks
The six paired frequency blocks in the frequency bands 703 733 MHz and 758 - 788 MHz referred to in section 2(1) of the
Government Decree have been numbered FDD1-FDD6. A table
of the frequency blocks to be auctioned is attached as Annex 2
of this Regulation.
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Section 7
Eligibility
A bidder's right to place bids in each bidding round is called
eligibility. Eligibility is reported as a numerical value (bidder's
eligibility points). In each bidding round, the bids of the bidder
may not exceed the number of its eligibility points. The
eligibility points are calculated separately for each bidding
round.
In the first bidding round, the bidder's eligibility is two points as
provided in section 2 of the Government Decree on radio
spectrum auction. From the second bidding round onwards,
eligibility points are calculated on the basis of the previous
rounds in the following manner:
a) points pertaining to paired frequency blocks, for which the
bidder had standing high bids at the beginning of the previous
bidding round, plus;
b) points pertaining to paired frequency blocks, on which the
bidder has placed new bids during the previous bidding round,
plus;
c) points pertaining to paired frequency blocks, on which a
previously placed bid became the standing high bid during the
previous bidding round because another bidder's bid has been
switched or disqualified under section 15 of the Information
Society Code, minus;
d) points pertaining to paired frequency blocks for which the
bidder's standing high bids have been cancelled due to
switching of bids referred to in section 12 during the previous
bidding round.
In order to maintain eligibility, the bidder must participate in
every bidding round, except for situations defined in section 14.
Section 8
Bidding rounds
Bidders may place bids on the paired frequency blocks during
bidding rounds referred to in section 11(4) of the Information
Society Code.
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FICORA will announce the starting date and time of the first
bidding round to the bidder’s contact person, referred to in
section 4, no later than two weeks before the start of the
auction.
Section 9
Bid increments
From the second bidding round onwards, FICORA will determine
the bid increment for a paired frequency block based on bids
made in the previous bidding round. The bid increment may be
no more than 6% higher than the standing high bid placed on
the paired frequency block.
However, if a bidder has placed a higher bid than the standing
high bid on the paired frequency block in one of the previous
bidding rounds, the going price for the bidder is at least as high
as the highest bid placed by the bidder on the paired frequency
block in the previous round plus no more than 6%.
However, the bid increments referred to in subsections 1 and 2
must be proportionally the same during the same bidding
round. If there is no standing high bid or the bidder has not
placed any bids on the paired frequency block during the
previous round, the going price for the bidder is the starting
price of the paired frequency block.
Section 10
Placing bids
During the first bidding round, the bidder can place bids on no
more than two paired frequency blocks.
In the following bidding rounds, the bidder can place bids on as
many paired frequency blocks as the number of the bidder's
eligibility points, as defined in section 7.
A bidder cannot raise its bid if it is the standing high bid defined
in section 11.
Bids are placed via an online auction system. If, due to a
technical difficulty or other reason, the bidder is unable to place
bids via the online system, bids can be placed by other means
approved by FICORA.
Only bids placed before the end of the bidding round are
accepted. Bids arriving late will not be accepted.
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Section 11
Standing high bid
The standing high bid on a paired frequency block is the bid
that has the highest value. If there are several equal bids on
the same paired frequency block, the standing high bid and the
mutual ranking of the bids is set by drawing lots.
Section 12
Switching bids
Each bidder can switch its bids. The bidder may only switch its
bid to a paired frequency block on which it has no standing bid.
However, a standing high bid may not be switched if during the
previous round no other bidder has placed a bid referred to in
section 10, switched a bid in accordance with section 12, or
played a waiver in accordance with section 14.
Section 13
Cancelling bids
A bid on a paired frequency block is cancelled only, if
a) the bidder replaces the bid with a higher bid on the same
paired frequency block; or
b) the bidder switches the bid to another paired frequency
block, in accordance with section 12.
Section 14
Right to play a waiver
Each bidder has the right to play a waiver in a maximum of
three (3) bidding rounds without its eligibility being reduced. If
a bidder has not placed a bid referred to in section 10 or
switched a bid in accordance with section 12 during a bidding
round and if therefore it would lose eligibility, the bidder is
considered to have played a waiver. However, the bidder may
notify that it does not exercise its right to play a waiver.
The bidder can also decide explicitly to play a waiver. The
bidder must disclose this before the end of the bidding phase
where the waiver is used.
It is not possible to play a waiver in the first bidding round of
the auction regardless of the provisions in subsections 1 and 2.
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Section 15
End of the auction
FICORA announces the auction concluded after a bidding round
where no bidders have placed bids referred to in section 10,
switched their bids in accordance with section 12 or exercised
their right to play a waiver in accordance with section 14.
Winners of the auction are the bidders that have the standing
high bid on one or several paired frequency blocks after the
auction has been concluded. The winners of the auction are
entitled to a licence or a radio licence as laid down in the
Information Society Code.
Section 16
Impact of disqualification of bids
If a bidder's bid, which is the standing high bid, is disqualified in
accordance with section 15 of the Information Society Code
before FICORA has announced the auction concluded, the
second highest bid placed on the paired frequency block will
become the new standing high bid. In other respects the
auction continues as before.
If the winning bid placed by a bidder is disqualified in
accordance with section 15 of the Information Society Code
after FICORA has announced the auction concluded, all winning
bids made by the bidder will be annulled. In terms of other
parts of the auction, the result will stand.
Section 17
Interruption of the auction
FICORA may interrupt an auction if an overriding incident
beyond FICORA's control occurs during the auction preventing
or essentially harming the compliance with the auction
procedure referred to in the Government Decree on radio
spectrum auction or this Regulation. FICORA may also interrupt
the auction if there is reason to suspect that there is prohibited
cooperation between bidders referred to in section 13(3) of the
Information Society Code or bids are being switched only to
prevent the auction from ending.
The auction may be resumed directly from the point at which it
was interrupted. However, due to an overriding incident or
prohibited cooperation referred to in subsection 1, FICORA may
declare one or more bidding rounds annulled, and restart the
auction from the preceding phase.
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Section 18
Entry into force
This Regulation enters into force on 10 October 2016 and
remains valid until further notice.
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Section 19
Information and publication
This Regulation is included in the Series of Regulations issued
by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority and it can
be obtained from the Customer Service Office of FICORA:
Visiting address
Itämerenkatu 3 A, Helsinki
Postal address
PO Box 313, FI-00181 HELSINKI
Tel. national
0295 290 100
Tel. international
+358 295 290 100
Fax national
0295 390 270
Fax international
+358 295 390 270
Website
http://www.ficora.fi/
Business ID
0709019-2
Helsinki 10 October 2016
Kirsi Karlamaa
Director-General
Jarno Ilme
Director
ANNEXES
Annex 1: Registration form
Annex 2: Paired frequency blocks to be auctioned, and associated points
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ANNEX 1
Registration for the auctioning of the bands 703 - 733 MHz
and 758 - 788 MHz
Name of the company or organisation participating in the auction:
The registry number (business ID) or equivalent:
______________________________________________________________
Postal address:__________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Contact information of the person representing the company or organisation in
the auction
Name:_______________________________________________
Telephone:____________________________________________
Email:________________________________________________
Signature:
______________________________________________________________
The registration form must be signed by an authorised signatory.
The following documents must be annexed to the registration form:
 Extract from the trade register or a corresponding foreign registry document
indicating authorized signatory.
 Power of attorney, if the authorized signatory is not clearly stated in the
extract from the trade register.
 Information on all companies and organisations belonging to the same
group as the registrant, as defined in Chapter 1, section 6 of the Accounting
Act (1336/1997).
The documents may be issued in Finnish, Swedish or English. If the original
documents are drawn up in another language, a Finnish, a Swedish or an
English translation must be provided.
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ANNEX 2
The paired frequency blocks to be auctioned, and associated points
Paired
frequency
block
FDD1
FDD2
FDD3
FDD4
FDD5
FDD6
Lower
band
(MHz)
703 - 708
708 - 713
713 - 718
718 - 723
723 - 728
728 - 733
Upper
band
(MHz)
758 - 763
763 - 768
768 - 773
773 - 778
778 - 783
783 - 788
Points
1
1
1
1
1
1