The rut continued in the Federal Communication Commission’s 700 MHz auction with the final rounds of the day mirroring what transpired during the opening three rounds. Rounds 44 and 45 received 172 and 174 new bids respectively, with additional potential winning bids totaling $14.3 million in round 44 and $16.8 million in round 45. Total potential winning bids were at just under $19.1 billion at days end.
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The big news of the afternoon was that the E-Block licenses surpassed their reserve price of $903.7 million during round 44 when 62 new bids during the round pushed the total potential winning bids for the block to $907.8 million. The E Block is now no longer subject to a possible re-auction that would have been required had it not met its reserve price.
The block, which includes 6 megahertz of unpaired spectrum, has received a steady number of new bids over the last several rounds. The most active being the Traverse City, Mich., license that has received three new bids per round since round 39. The E Block covering Eugene, Ore., jumped in on the fun in round 45 picking up an auction-leading three new bids of its own.
While the auction’s growth has stumbled this week, a number of high-priced licenses continue to remain in play. In particular, E-Block licenses covering Atlanta ($27.5 million); Miami ($24.8 million); Dallas ($35.6 million); Philadelphia ($37.7 million); Boston ($25.1 million); San Francisco ($44.9 million); and Los Angeles ($92.9 million) all received new bids in round 45.
Analysts noted that with only the national commercial-public safety D-Block license not likely to reach its reserve price, the FCC could de-couple that license from the others and release the names of the A-, B-, C- and E-Block licenses shortly after Auction 73 concludes.
“Under this scenario, the FCC would announce the winning bidders within a few days after the auction closes, and the anti-collusion riles would lift 10 business days after that,” noted Stifel Nicolaus in a report after round 44. The firm added that it expects the auction to end by the end of the month, or possible sooner.
The FCC noted earlier today that it was increasing the number of bidding rounds from five to six beginning tomorrow.
