US telecoms regulator the FCC has scheduled its auction of AWS-3 for 13 November and is looking to raise at least US$10.65bn from it. A US$10.07bn reserve has been placed on the paired 1755-1780 MHz/2155-2180 MHz licences, while the FCC is looking to…
US telecoms regulator the FCC has scheduled its auction of AWS-3 for 13 November and is looking to raise at least US$10.65bn from it.
A US$10.07bn reserve has been placed on the paired 1755-1780 MHz/2155-2180 MHz licences, while the FCC is looking to recoup US$580m from the 5 MHz and 10 MHz unpaired blocks in the 1695-1710 MHz band.
In a public notice the regulator said: “Offering both the paired and unpaired bands in the same auction will allow market forces to determine the degree to which market participants view the AWS-3 spectrum blocks as substitutable.”
“Our approach is grounded in our experience with past auctions where the degree to which licences may be characterised as substitutable or complementary differs depending upon the perspective of each auction participant.”
The decision to bundle the licences is expected to come as a disappointment to America’s number four mobile operator T-Mobile US and DTH provider Dish Networks, which had argued they were too different to be sold in the same lots.
In contrast representatives from market leaders Verizon Wireless and AT&T were happy with the rules. Kathy Grillo, Verizon’s senior vice president of federal regulatory affairs, praised the collaborative efforts of the FCC, Congress, NTIA, the Department of Defense, and the wireless industry in designing the auction.
Joan Marsh, AT&T vice president of federal regulatory, said she was confident that the terms of the auction would yield a successful outcome.
A mock auction will be held on 10 November prior to the real one, which will be the US’ most significant spectrum tender since it sold off 700 MHz licences in 2008. In that instance, it set a reserve price of around US$10bn but raised more than US$19.5bn.
However, next year is likely to see an even bigger spectrum sale when 600 MHz frequencies will be transferred from broadcasters to mobile operators. AT&T has already committed to spend at least US$9bn alone in the auction.
