Advanced Television

FCC spectrum auction rages on

December 2, 2014

By Chris Forrester

The post-Thanksgiving auctions for the Federal Communications Commission’s Advanced Wireless Services (AWS-3) spectrum continues this week, and has reached Round 41 with a staggering $39.3 billion on the table.  The process had halted on Round 37 just before the US holiday, with $38.1 billion having been bid.

Intriguingly the number of active bids had increased from last week’s 127 to 194 on December 1st. The extra bidding added an overall $1.2 billion from the start of the day, and a useful $263.5 million between Round 40 and Round 41.

For the past week, we have been somewhat obsessed with one batch of frequencies on Long Island, New York, which reached an amazing $2.462 billion. That price did not increase December 1, but an adjacent set of frequencies (the AW-BEA010—H batch) is still in play with a pair of active bidders, and the price closed on December 1 at $1.285 billion. Round 42 will open on December 2nd.

Categories: Articles, Business, Spectrum