Monday, August 29, 2022

FCC Auction 108 concludes - 2.5 GHz Spectrum

Bidding has concluded in the FCC Auction 108.  Gross proceeds from the bid are expected to amount to $427,789,670.

The FCC said it will post full results in the next few days. 

https://auctiondata.fcc.gov/public/projects/auction108

FCC commences 5G mid-band spectrum auction

The FCC opened bidding in its latest mid-band spectrum auction at 10am on Friday, July 29.

Auction 108 makes available 8,017 new flexible-use, county-based overlay licenses in the 2.5 GHz band. These licenses are in areas with unassigned 2.5 GHz spectrum— mostly rural parts of the country—following disposition of applications filed in the Rural Tribal Priority Window, which has to date resulted in the grant of 335 licenses to serve Tribal communities.

“We all know there are gaps in 5G coverage, especially in rural America, and this auction is a unique opportunity to fill them in,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. “I am grateful to the teams that have worked so hard to both stand up this auction and ensure the success of our efforts to make these airwaves available to Tribes to support wireless service in their communities”

Auction 108 utilizes a “clock-1” auction format similar to the clock phase of past FCC auctions, but rather than offering multiple generic spectrum blocks in a category in a geographic area, it will offer only a single frequency-specific license in a category in a county. The new flexible-use geographic overlay licenses in the 2.5 GHz band (2496-2690 MHz) must protect the operations of incumbent licensees within the auctioned areas, including any licensees that receive their licenses through applications filed in the Rural Tribal Priority Window.

http://www.fcc.gov/auction/108

FCC incentivizes to open underutilized spectrum for rural carriers

The FCC voted to create an Enhanced Competition Incentive Program (ECIP) to establish incentives for wireless licensees to make underutilized spectrum available to small carriers, Tribal Nations, and entities serving rural areas. The new program encourages licensees to partition, disaggregate, or lease spectrum to better match available spectrum resources with entities that seek to provide needed services to under-connected communities.  Under...