700 MHz auction keeps on keeping on: Bidders pass round 256 with handful of bids

The Federal Communications Commission’s 700 MHz spectrum auction trudged into day 38 of bidding activity due to a small number of bids — in some cases a single bid placed during a round — that continue to be placed on a handful of licenses.
Over the past 14 rounds, only five licenses have received new bids: B-Block licenses covering Johnson, Tenn.; Vieques and Culebra, Puerto Rico; and Tehama, Calif.; and the E-Block license covering American Samoa.
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The miniscule bids have added little to the auction’s bottom line, which has increased by just a couple hundred thousand dollars since yesterday. The FCC’s 700 MHz auction, dubbed Auction 73, stood at just over $19.592 billion after round 256.
Auction participants have placed bids on all but eight of the 1,099 licenses up for grabs. Those without the love include A-Block licenses covering Lubbock, Texas and Wheeling, W.Va.; and B-Block licenses covering Bismarck, Fargo and Grand Forks, N.D.; Lee, Va.; Yancey, N.C.; and Clarendon, S.C.
The auction is set to conclude once a round does not receive any new bids. The FCC will then release the names of winners 10 days following the end of the auction.