FCC High-Band Auction Bidding Nears $1 Billion

By John Eggerton
published

After round five of the FCC's millimeter-wave auction (103), the bid total pushed toward $1 billion ($953,824,100 to be exact).

The FCC is auctioning 3,400 megahertz of flexible use spectrum (over 14,000 licenses) in the upper microwave band (37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz), the most spectrum the FCC has ever auctioned at one time. It can be used for both fixed and mobile uses and is being auctioned in 100 MHz blocks in partial economic areas (PEAs).

The highest profile bidders are Windstream (actually the debtors in possession), T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular Corp.

Related: FCC Waivers Auction 103 Communications Prohibition for T-Mobile, Sprint

The current FCC price for the spectrum in New York is $6,134,000 and $4,189,000 for L.A., the top two markets and the top two prices.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.