WASHINGTON-The Federal Communications Commission will auction 104 licenses in the 700 MHz band to guard-band managers on June 14.
The licenses will be for 52 major economic areas. One license will be 4 megahertz (a pair of 2-megahertz blocks) located in the 762 MHz to 764 MHz and 792 MHz to 794 MHz bands. The FCC proposes minimum bids for this license will range from $3,200 to $3.74 million.
The second license will be 2 megahertz (a pair of 1-megahertz blocks) in the 746 MHz to 747 MHz and 776 MHz to 777 MHz band. The FCC proposes minimum bids ranging from $2,500 to $1.87 million.
The FCC is creating two guard bands to protect public safety from interference. The licenses are being sold to guard-band managers. After winning a license at auction, the guard-band manager would then be free to “subdivide its spectrum in any manner it chooses and make it available to system operators or directly to end users for fixed or mobile communications, consistent with the frequency coordination and interference rules,” said the FCC.
The guard-band managers would not be permitted, however, to lease spectrum to those using a cellular-like architecture.
The spectrum, being made available with the transition to digital TV, is known as 60-69 because of its place on the TV dial. There is a total of 60 megahertz. Congress split the spectrum so that 24 megahertz is to be used for public-safety operations and 36 megahertz for “commercial” uses.
Since the 60-69 spectrum is considered “prime real estate” by the wireless industry, every sector tried to convince the FCC to give it a piece of the pie.
Proposals for use of the spectrum included everything from using all of it for third-generation wireless to setting aside some spectrum for private wireless uses. The FCC said its decision to auction 30 megahertz will allow for commercial uses, including 3G and fixed wireless, while still protecting public safety.
Bidders in the May 10 auction for the 30 megahertz will be bidding for two licenses in six economic area licenses in the commercial band. One license will be a block of 20 megahertz of spectrum (a pair of 10-megahertz blocks), and one block of 10 megahertz (a pair of 5-megahertz blocks). The FCC will allow bidders in the auction to win both licenses in each area.
In addition to protecting public-safety operations, there are 100 broadcasters still in this band that the FCC says will need to be protected from interference until the transition to digital TV is complete.
