Auction 97 bidding activity slow, but continues
The Federal Communications Commission’s ongoing spectrum auction continues to defy predictions of its demise as bidders continue to put up at least a handful of new bids per round. Through round 320 this morning, Auction 97 was sitting at just under $44.9 billion in total potential winning bids.
Analysts have been predicting an end to proceedings for weeks now, as new bids slowed to as few as three per round. However, FCC rules dictate that bidding will continue until a round does not receive any new bids. And, with 1,614 individual licenses up for bid and up to 70 qualified bidders participating, chances for at least one bid per round have been maintained.
Auction 97 has far surpassed the amount of money raised and length of bidding of all previous FCC spectrum auctions. Auction 73, which included 700 MHz licenses auctioned off in 2008, lasted 261 rounds and generated $19.6 billion in total bids; while Auction 66, which included AWS-1 (1.7/2.1 GHz) licenses auctioned off in 2006, went 161 rounds and generated $13.9 billion in total bids.
The FCC has attempted to speed up the process, moving last week to “stage four” rules that require a bidder to be active on 100% of its bidding eligibility in each round. That resulted in a surge of new activity, but has yet to bring an end to activity. The FCC also has increased the number of bidding rounds per day, moving from 14 rounds last week to 21 rounds beginning this morning. Each round is scheduled to last 10 minutes.
The most recent rounds have seen single-digit new bids that have contributed very little to overall proceeds, but show continued interest in at least some markets. At the end of round 320, three licenses were still in the hands of the FCC, including a B1 licenses centered on Cincinnati in need of a $2.3 million bid.
The licenses up for bid are spread across the 1.7/2.1 GHz spectrum bands known as AWS-3. The licenses 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 auction’s biggest sticker remains affixed to the J-Block license centered on New York City, with one lucky bidder having committed more than $2.7 billion for that license. The J-Block license centered on Los Angeles is No. 2 with a nearly $2.1 billion bid, followed by the I-Block license centered on New York City at $1.3 billion.
License winners won’t be known until after the auction concludes. Participants in Auction 97 include Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile US and Dish Network.
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