Non-substantive Change Request Justification

December 19, 2025

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

OMB Control Number: 3060-0600

Requested Action: Non-substantive change/non-material change request

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FCC Form 175, Application to Participate in an FCC Auction, is used by the public to apply to participate in Federal Communications Commission (Commission) auctions for wireless licenses or broadcast construction permits. The information collection requirements reported under OMB 3060-0600 implement the Commission’s competitive bidding authority under the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Communications Act), and the Commission’s competitive bidding rules.

On December 18, 2025, the Commission’s Office of Economics (OEA) and Analytics and Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) released a Public Notice (DA 25-1075) adopting the procedures for Auction 113, an upcoming auction of wireless licenses in the 1695–1710 MHz, 1755–1780 MHz, and 2155–2180 MHz bands (collectively, the “AWS-3” bands) (Auction 113 Procedures Public Notice).¹ The Commission submits this non-substantive change request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval of the following two non-substantive/non-material changes to FCC Form 175:

Certification of Notice of Auction Requirements and Procedures

The first non-substantive/non-material change for which the Commission requests approval is a certification requirement on FCC Form 175 for applicants seeking to participate in Auction 113 that is substantively similar to the certification that was required for applicants seeking to participate in Auction 110.

In May 2021, OEA and WTB released a Public Notice (DA 21-567) adopting an additional certification requirement for applicants seeking to participate in an auction for wireless licenses in the 3.45-3.55 GHz band (Auction 110), which required that in addition to making the certifications already required by the Commission’s rules in its FCC Form 175 auction application, each Auction 110 applicant also certify that it had read the public notice adopting procedures for the auction and had familiarized itself both with the auction procedures and with the requirements for obtaining a license and operating facilities in the 3.45-3.55 GHz band. The Commission subsequently requested and received approval from OMB to include this additional certification on the Certify & Submit page of FCC Form 175.

The same type of additional certification requirement adopted for Auction 110 was also later adopted for applicants seeking to participate in the Commission’s auction of construction permits for full power television stations (Auction 112) (see DA 22-125) and in the Commission’s auction of wireless licenses in the 2.5 GHz band (Auction 108) (see FCC 22-24). The Commission submitted separate non-substantive/no material change requests to OMB in advance of Auctions 112 and 108 to include the additional certification on FCC Form 175 for these auctions, which were approved by OMB.

In the Auction 113 Procedures Public Notice, OEA and WTB adopted the same type of additional certification requirement for applicants seeking to participate in Auction 113 that had been adopted for Auction 110, Auction 112, and Auction 108 applicants. As noted above, the certification that will be used on FCC Form 175 for Auction 113 is substantively similar to what was used for Auction 110 and approved under OMB 3060-0600, and the wording of the certification that will used on the form for Auction 113 will be identical to the Auction 110 certification other than a non-substantive change to reference the particular authorizations available in Auction 113 (i.e., licenses in the AWS-3 bands).

The Commission has included as part of this non-substantive change request a screenshot of the version of the certification that will be displayed on the Certify & Submit page of FCC Form 175 for Auction 113.

Acknowledgement Statement

The second non-substantive/non-material change for which the Commission requests approval is an editorial change to the acknowledgment statement that is currently approved under OMB 3060-0600.

In July 2014, WTB released a Public Notice (DA 14-1018) adopting procedures for Auction 97, the Commission’s first auction of AWS-3 spectrum, which included a requirement that an applicant in any auction for licenses in the 1755-1780 MHz band submit with its FCC Form 175 application a signed statement acknowledging that the applicant’s operations in the 1755-1780 MHz band may be subject to interference from Federal systems in certain geographic zones, that the applicant must accept interference from such Federal systems in those zones, and that the applicant has considered these risks before submitting any bids for applicable licenses. The Commission subsequently requested and received approval from OMB to collect this signed acknowledgement statement from applicants seeking to participate in Auction 97.

In the Auction 113 Procedures Public Notice, OEA and WTB adopted the same acknowledgement statement requirement for Auction 113 applicants seeking to bid for licenses in the 1755-1780 MHz band that was required of Auction 97 applicants. The wording of the acknowledgement statement that will be used for Auction 113 is identical to the wording of the acknowledgement statement currently approved under OMB 3060-0600, other than an editorial change to replace the references to “Auction 97” with “Auction 113” in the statement.

The Commission has included as part of this non-substantive change request an updated version of the acknowledgement statement that will be used for Auction 113.

There is no change to the estimated burden hours or costs to respondents associated with these non-substantive changes. Similarly, there is no change to Commission’s estimated burden hours or costs associated with these non-substantive changes.

1 Licenses for AWS-3 spectrum previously were offered in Auction 97, however not all the licenses offered in Auction 97 were assigned following that auction. As directed by the Spectrum and Secure Technology and Innovations Act of 2024, in Auction 113, the Commission will offer licenses for the unassigned AWS-3 spectrum that was available in its inventory as of December 23, 2024.

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