The 3.45-3.55 GHz auction of 100 megahertz of midband spectrum has wrapped up its first phase after 151 rounds, raising $21.888 billion in bids and making it the third-highest grossing auction that the agency has held.
Now the auction moves into its assignment phase, in which winning bidders indicate preferences for specific blocks of spectrum within the license-areas which they have won.
“The results of Auction 110 demonstrate once again the critical importance of mid-band spectrum to satisfy the growing needs of the American public for 5G wireless broadband,” said Ari Meltzer, partner in law firm Wiley’s Telecom, Media and Technology practice, in a statement on the clock phase conclusion. “The 3.45 GHz auction is now the third highest grossing FCC auction behind only the C-band and AWS-3. As the industry continues to roll out new and innovative services built on 5G networks, the demand for 5G spectrum is only going to increase.”
