“Stage two” move spurs bids
A change in bidding requirements gave some new life to the Federal Communications Commission’s Auction 97 proceedings with bids over the past 11 rounds adding $1.3 billion to the FCC spectrum auction total haul.
After 73 rounds of bidding, total potential winning bids stood at $42.8 billion, spurred by new bids on some larger markets. The FCC at the beginning of round 68 instituted its “stage two” proceedings, which requires that in order to meet the activity requirement and avoid using an activity rule waiver or having its eligibility reduced, “a bidder must be active on at least 95% of its current bidding eligibility in each round.” That move seemed spur new activity as the number of bids more than doubled per round.
The auction’s most expensive license also received a new bid in round 64, which was not impacted by the “stage two” move. The J-Block license centered on New York City now stands at $2.76 billion, more than $700 million dearer than the No. 2 most expensive license. The last few rounds have also seen new bids placed on J-Block licenses centered on Denver ($280.5 million) and Portland, Ore. ($248 million), as well as the H-Block licenses centered on Philadelphia ($242.7 million).
The paired licenses up for bid in Auction 97 include three 5×5 megahertz licenses (G-, H- and I-Blocks) and a single 10×10 megahertz license (J-Block). The G-Block licenses are carved into commercial market area-sized licenses, which total 734 licenses covering the country. The remaining blocks are economic area-sized that will total 176 licenses covering the country. The 15 megahertz of unpaired spectrum is split into two licenses, one with 5 megahertz of total spectrum parsed out on an EA basis, and the other with 10 megahertz of spectrum also in an EA configuration.
Only eight licenses remain in the hands of the FCC, having not yet received a potential winning bid. Those include a half-dozen G-Block licenses and one each of an I-Block and H-Block.
Auction bidding continues today with six, 30-minute rounds scheduled. The auction is set to continue until there are no bids in a round. Past proceedings have surpassed at least 160 rounds, with the 700 MHz auction (Auction 77) going to 261 rounds.
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