Auction for AWS-3 spectrum has ended today with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission raising $44.9 billion from major bidders including wireless carriers Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile US as well as satellite TV provider Dish Network.
“Now, an additional 65 megahertz of spectrum is available to improve wireless connectivity across the country and accelerate the mobile revolution that is driving economic growth and improving the lives of the American people. The results of this auction confirm the strong market demand for more spectrum,” said Tom Wheeler, chairman of FCC.
“We are confident there will continue to be strong demand for valuable low-band spectrum that will be made available in the Incentive Auction early next year,” he added.
The spectrum auction, which began on November 13, soared past the reserve price of $10.1 billion in the first week of bidding, said a Reuters report today.
Dish Networks is said to one of the main participants.
A Reuters report said the telecom regulator will disclose the winners of the auctioned spectrum licenses in the coming days.
The spectrum auction result reflects the wireless carriers’ urgency to satisfy the growing consumer demand for streaming video and other data-guzzling applications.
It also sets a high bar for what is expected to be the largest and most complicated U.S. airwaves auction of low-band frequencies yet, planned by the FCC for mid-2016.
FCC Commissioner Mignon L Clyburn said: “Seventy-seven days and a record setting $44.89 billion later, Auction 97 has shown that demand for this spectrum was phenomenal.”
“I believe one of the key factors for this unanticipated level of activity is that the AWS-3 bands are near the AWS-1 bands and there are already base stations and other equipment available,” Clyburn added.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government plans to auction off similar high-frequency AWS-3 airwaves beginning on March 3.
