WASHINGTON — The FCC’s 28 GHz auction completed its eighth round Monday (Nov. 19), with bids now topping $85 million — $85,410,200, which is up $7,868,010 (10.15%) from the previous round’s total of $77,542,190.
That is more than double the FCC’s aggregate floor price of about $40 million.
There are now 2,159 provisionally winning bids for the county-sized licenses (PWBs), which means licenses that have now been bids on them. The FCC is still holding 913 licenses, which means they have not been bid on or the bid has been withdrawn and not rebid.
The FCC set a relatively low reserve price for the spectrum to try and get the spectrum into the market ASAP, FCC officials say.
The auction launched Nov. Nov. 15 and will be followed by a second auction of spectrum for 5G (of 24 GHz spectrum). Combining the two auctions, the FCC is trying to free up more spectrum for wireless broadband than the current carriers use combined. That is because the commission is looking toward an internet of everything future, as well as trying to boost broadband and speeds.
The sooner wireless is as fast and wired, the sooner the FCC can officially declare the two substitutes and the market wildly competitive.
