News
FCC completes seventh bidding round in the forward phase of the incentive auction.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said bids in the country’s 600-MHz spectrum sale exceeded US$11.5 billion after seven rounds on Friday, with rounds 8 and 9 set to be completed on Monday in Washington DC.
The auction is called the “incentive auction” and the second part that is currently in progress is called the “forward auction”. Part one, or the reverse auction, was completed in late June after almost three months.
The amount raised to date is still far shy of the target amount of US$86.4 billion, and raises the possibility that the auction could take some time to complete. When this price tag was first revealed, it raised questions over the telecoms industry’s ability and willingness to commit such a hefty sum to more spectrum.
Should cumulative bids in the second phase of the sale not reach that level, the FCC will be forced to reopen the reverse auction in order to bring the minimum price down. Such a move would also reduce the volume of spectrum available in the forward auction.
The FCC kicked off the forward auction on Tuesday, when 62 bidders were expected to start submitting their offers for TV broadcasters’ airwaves. You can follow events at the auction’s web site (auction 1002) here.
