WASHINGTON-Santa did not bring the much-wanted end of the D-, E- and F-block personal communications services auction by the start of the holidays, but he did slow things down a bit during the last few rounds leading to the two-week bidding hiatus, which ends Jan. 6. The 125 remaining players were given early time off Dec. 20 for good behavior, following the last four rounds of 1996.
According to Jerry Vaughan, deputy chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission, the slowdown “is the natural progression to the end. Bidders who are satisfied with what they have now are moving to cheaper markets. You will see some bouncing back and forth.”
Between Rounds 226 and 229, net revenues dropped by $1.4 million due to bid withdrawals by top-ranked SprintCom Inc.; as of the end of Round 229, total net revenues for the auction stood at $2.49 billion. Except for some wrangling over smaller markets, it appears that most D, E and F venues have been settled, especially the top 20 basic trading areas; only 14 new high bids were registered during the final 1996 round.
According to wireless analysts at Chantilly, Va.-based BIA Consulting Inc., 22,574 total bids had been placed on D-, E- and F-block properties as of the close of 1996. In a block-by-block breakdown, the total dollar value of D-block bids placed as of the end of Round 229 was $939.87 million, with total bids of 7,006 and a national average price per pop of $3.58.
In the E block, the total dollar value of bids placed by Dec. 20 was $920.6 million, with 7,282 total bids and a national average price per pop of $3.51. For the F block, a total of $630 million has been pledged, with 8,286 bids placed and a total national average price per pop of $2.40.
Although most D and E markets in the top 20 continued to trade at double-digit millions, there still were some bargains to be had in the F block: $4.4 million for Los Angeles; $4.3 million for San Francisco; $5.2 million for Cleveland; $1.4 million for Minneapolis; $195,000 for Pittsburgh; and $2.7 million for Baltimore. On the flip side, F-blockers still were paying too much to lock in such markets as New York City ($75.2 million), Philadelphia ($22 million), Miami ($27.7 million) and Phoenix ($30.2 million).
The overall top 10 bidders going into 1997 remain unchanged, although their net bid numbers change slightly every few rounds: SprintCom Inc.; AT&T Wireless PCS Inc.; BellSouth Wireless Inc.; OPCSE-Galloway Consortium; Alltel Mobile Communications; NextWave Power Partners Inc.; Northcoast Operating Co. Inc.; Rivgam Communicators L.L.C.; Western PCS BTA 1 Corp.; and U S West Communications Inc.
