Sec. 21.953  Prohibition of collusion.

    (a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of this 
section, after the filing of short-form applications, all applicants in 
an MDS auction are prohibited from cooperating, collaborating, 
discussing or disclosing in any manner the substance of their bids or 
bidding strategies, or discussing or negotiating settlement agreements, 
with other applicants until after the winning bidder makes the required 
down payment, unless such applicants are members of a bidding consortium 
or other joint bidding arrangement identified on the applicant's short-
form application. Communications among applicants concerning matters 
unrelated to the MDS auction will be permitted after the filing of 
short-form applications.
    (b) Applicants may modify their short-form applications to reflect 
formation of consortia or changes in ownership at any time before or 
during an auction, provided such changes do not result in a change in 
control of the applicant, and provided that the parties forming 
consortia or entering into ownership agreements have not applied for the 
same BTA service area.
    (c) After the filing of short-form applications, applicants may make 
agreements to bid jointly for BTA service areas, provided the parties to 
the agreement have not applied for the same service areas.
    (d) After the filing of short-form applications, a holder of a non-
controlling attributable interest in an entity submitting a short-form 
application may, under the circumstances specified in Sec. 1.2105(c)(4), 
acquire an ownership interest in, form a consortium with, or enter into 
a joint bidding arrangement with, other applicants for the same BTA 
service areas. See 47 CFR 1.2105(c)(4).
    (e) To reflect the changes in ownership or in the membership of 
consortia or joint bidding arrangements specified in paragraphs (b), (c) 
and (d) of this section, applicants must amend their short-form 
applications by submitting a revised short-form application, filed 
within two business days of any such change; such modifications will not 
be considered major amendments of the applications within the meaning of 
Sec. 21.952(c)(2). However, any amendment which results in the change of 
control of an applicant will be considered a major amendment of the 
short-form.

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    (f) For purposes of this section, the terms ``applicant'' and ``bids 
or bidding strategies'' are defined as set forth in 47 CFR 1.2105(c)(5).
[60 1997 FR 36558 , July 17, 1995]