Total potential winning bids for the ongoing Auction 97 proceedings have now nearly matched the combined proceeds gleaned from the three previous significant spectrum auctions, with no end yet in sight.
Through this morning’s round 28, total potential winning bids topped $34.6 billion. The latest round included 448 new bids totaling $599 million, with the auction’s most expensive licenses continuing to drive the revenue growth.
In the latest round, J-Block licenses covering markets centered on New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago all received two new bids pushing their respective total potential winning bids to $2.01 billion, $1.66 billion and $1.14 billion, respectively.
Five licenses during the round received three new bids, including a G-Block license centered on Chase, Neb.; a G-Block license centered on Dubuque, Iowa; a G-Block license centered on Panama City, Fla.; a G-Block license centered on Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; and a J-Block license centered on San Francisco.
All 1,614 licenses up for bid remain with at least one bid and none of the original 70 participants have withdrawn from the proceedings. The Federal Communications Commission is keeping bidder identities secret until the auction concludes.
Record haul keeps growing
The FCC’s three previous significant spectrum auctions, including Auction 66 (AWS-1), Auction 73 (700 MHz) and Auction 96 (H-Block) combined, generated just under $35 billion in proceeds.
The Auction 97 licenses split up a total of 65 megahertz of spectrum in the 1.7/2.1 GHz bands – also known as the advanced wireless services-3 band – with 50 megahertz set aside in paired bands typically used by mobile operators. The paired licenses will 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.
The FCC said it will suspend Auction 97 bidding for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday beginning in the afternoon on Nov. 26, with the proceedings picking back up on Dec. 1. The auction continues with four rounds per day, each lasting one hour.
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