The FCC is keeping secret the identities of bidders in each round of the upcoming auction of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum in order to promote competition and prevent participants from colluding with one another during the auction process.

Suspecting that affiliated carriers may have been gaming the auction system in the past by coordinating bids, the FCC is changing its basic auction rules, not revealing the identity of the high bidders after each round of the auction, unless certain competitive guidelines are met. If prospective bidders, however, indicate their intent to play competitively by making upfront payments, the FCC will waive the new restriction.

“Although our auctions have generally functioned well, allegations of collusive behavior have been raised in regard to past auctions,” said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin in a statement. “Unfortunately, the ongoing susceptibility of our auctions to these practices is no secret; methods for exploiting our auctions have been described in detail in articles directed specifically at the Commission’s current auction format. In light of this evidence, I believe it is essential that we make an effort to foreclose anti-competitive bidding behavior in this auction.”

Under the new guidelines, the FCC will disclose the names of all of the bidders at its start, but after each round of bids it will only disclose the total amounts of every bid placed in that round, not the identities of the specific bidders themselves.

The auction of the AWS bands will begin June 29. In total 1122 licenses will be up for grabs, spanning 90 MHz of spectrum in two bands: 1710 MHz to 1755 MHz and 2110 MHz to 2155 MHz.