17.—(1) A bidder which wishes to participate in the principal stage must pay, in addition to the initial deposit, a deposit of at least nine hundred thousand pounds (the “additional deposit”) which shall be taken into account by OFCOM in accordance with regulation 18 for the purpose of calculating the bidder’s eligibility limit for the first principal stage round.
(2) To pay the additional deposit, a bidder must, by a deadline specified by OFCOM, pay the additional deposit into OFCOM’s bank account with accompanying information which identifies the bidder.
(3) Where a bidder does not pay the additional deposit by the deadline, that bidder shall be excluded from the award process and shall not receive a refund of any sums which the bidder has paid as a deposit under these Regulations, which shall (where not already forfeited) be forfeited together with any interest which has accrued on the deposit.
(4) After the deadline specified under paragraph (2), OFCOM shall determine each bidder’s eligibility limit for the first principal stage round in accordance with regulation 18 and shall record each bidder’s existing spectrum holdings in accordance with regulation 19.
18.—(1) A bidder’s eligibility limit shall be—
(a)where the amount which the bidder has on deposit (including the initial deposit and the additional deposit) is thirty million pounds or less, the number which is the amount of such deposit in pounds divided by one million;
(b)where the amount which the bidder has on deposit (including the initial deposit and the additional deposit) is more than thirty million pounds but less than seventy million pounds, the number (E) which is calculated in accordance with the formula set out in paragraph (2); and
(c)where the amount which the bidder has on deposit (including the initial deposit and the additional deposit) is seventy million pounds or more, forty-six.
(2) The formula is E= 30 + [(D-30,000,000)/2,500,000], where “D” is the amount of the deposit in pounds.
(3) Where the number which results from the calculation in paragraphs (1)(a) or 1(b) is not a whole number, the bidder’s eligibility limit shall be that number rounded down to the nearest whole number.
(4) That number shall be expressed as a number of points.