The FCC on Friday announced the conclusion of bidding in the clock phase of Auction 107, the largest auction of mid-band 5G spectrum.
It’s also the highest-grossing spectrum auction, overall, ever held in the U.S.
The auction made available licenses for 280 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.7-3.98 GHz band—a portion of the so-called C-band.
“This historic FCC auction is already a record-breaking success,” said soon-to-depart FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “Bidders have won all of the 5,684 spectrum blocks that were up for bid. And, gross proceeds have exceeded $80.9 billion, shattering the prior FCC auction record of $44.9 billion.”
These results, Pai added, represent “a strong endorsement by the private sector of the service rules and transition plan put in place by the FCC to quickly make the C-band a critical part of 5G rollout in the United States.”
And, he asserted, “they vindicate the hard choices the FCC made during the C-band proceeding—and that we made them in the first instance.”
That’s because, Pai said, the FCC confronted “a host of technical, legal, practical, and political challenges in structuring this auction.”
He noted, “It would have been easy to delay. But, we rightly pushed ahead and overcame every one of those obstacles. As a result, we significantly advanced United States leadership in 5G and have enabled America’s wireless consumers to more quickly benefit from 5G services.”
Winning bidders will now have the opportunity to bid for frequency-specific licenses in the assignment phase of Auction 107.
The FCC will release a public notice soon announcing further details regarding the assignment phase, including the date and time when bidding in the assignment phase will commence.
For more information on Auction 107, please visit https://www.fcc.gov/auction/107.
