It’s officially over! The FCC’s AWS-3 spectrum auction has officially come to an end, and it was a biggie.
The AWS-3 spectrum auction closed with after 341 rounds of bidding, with the total of winning bids finished at $44.899 billion. That’s substantially more than previous spectrum auctions. For example, the AWS-1 auction that took place in 2006 finished at $13.7 billion, while the 700MHz auction in 2008 ended at $18.9 billion.
At stake in the AWS-3 auction was the G Block (1755-1760/2155-2160MHz), H Block (1760-1765/2160-2165MHz), I Block (1765-1770/2165-2170MHZ), and J Block (1770-1780/2170-2180MHz). Licenses for the paired spectrum drew the biggest bids, with the 10×10 MHz J Block in major metropolitan areas drawing a lot of attention.
Unfortunately, it’s not yet known who bid and what they won in the auction. The FCC will identify the winners in the near future.
Considering the increasing importance of mobile and the need for more spectrum, it’s no surprise to hear that this AWS-3 auction drew such a large amount of money. What will be interesting is seeing who won spectrum and exactly how much they’ll shell out for their winning bid.
Source: Fierce Wireless