700 MHz auction keeps on truckin’: E Block remains prime mover as net proceeds surpass $19.1 billion

The Federal Communication Commission’s 700 MHz auction began its first day of six rounds-per-day bidding pretty much the way it left the previous five rounds-per-day of bidding: A dwindling number of new bids focused on the A, B and C Block that are adding around $20 million per round to the auction’s total. Round 46 picked up 163 new bids, round 47 netted 156 new bids and round 48 received 139 new bids. Together the new bids pushed the auction’s total potential winning bid amount to $19.161 billion after round 48.
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Similar to yesterday, a number of E-Block licenses covering top markets continued to get new bids during the opening three rounds of bidding today and accounted for most of the new potential winning bid amounts. The E-Block license covering New York City received a new bid to $195.9 million ($1.18 per megahertz/potential customer covered, according to Optimal Markets Inc.); the Los Angeles license was pushed to $104.3 million (89 cents per MHz/pop); the San Francisco Bay Area license received a bid for $50.4 million (85 cents per MHz/pop); Atlanta was at $30.9 million (87 cents per MHz/pop); the Dallas E Block was at $40 million (81 cents per MHz/pop); the Philadelphia license received a new bid for $42.3 million (89 cents per MHz/pop); and the Boston license was at $28.2 million (55 cents per MHz/pop).
The most expensive license by density continued to be the Chicago B-Block license that remained at $9.19 per MHz/pop, having not received a new bid since round 22.
Three more rounds of bidding are scheduled for later today.
At a news briefing today, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said he’s remaining optimistic until the end of the auction that the $1.3 billion reserve price for the national commercial-public safety D Block will be met. If not, he said, the FCC will re-examine the situation. The $472 million bid for the D Block has been languishing since the opening round on Jan. 24.
Martin said the 700 MHz auction has been a major success, pointing to record auction revenue and meeting the bidding threshold for open access in the C Block. Still, Martin could face criticism if bidding fails to further goals of building a national public-safety interoperable network and producing a new national wireless competitor.