700 MHz auction goes to 14 rounds per day: Move could speed auction end

The Federal Communications Commission’s 700 MHz auction took on a more heated feel today as the agency increased the number of rounds per day from 10 to 14. A similar move during the advanced wireless services auction in 2006 brought about an almost immediate end to the proceedings.
Today’s 700 MHz action remained mostly on B-Block licenses, with the block receiving all of the new bids in rounds 235, 236, 239, 240, 241 and 242. The block received a total of 33 bids focused on 8 licenses, including Stubenville, Ohio; Vieques, Culebra and Rincon, Puerto Rico; Dixie, Putnam and Walton, Fla.; and Garrett, Md. The most costly of the bunch was the Walton license that after round 242 was sitting at $409,000.
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Only the E-Block license covering America Samoa managed to break up the B Block party. The E Block license saw new bids in rounds 237 and 238 that pushed its total potential winning amount to $12,000.
The new bids were enough to push the auction’s total purse past the $19.592 billion mark, making the 700 MHz auction the FCC’s most lucrative ever.
There are six more rounds of bidding scheduled for today. The auction is set to conclude once a round does not receive any new bids. The FCC will then release the names of winners 10 days following the end of the auction.