News
FCC completes ninth bidding round in the forward phase of the incentive auction; increases number of rounds to three a day.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said bids in the country’s 600-MHz spectrum sale exceeded US$12.6 billion after nine rounds on Monday, and also upped the pace of bidding in a move presumably designed to prevent the process from dragging on indefinitely.
Instead of organising two-hour rounds twice a day, from Tuesday the FCC will hold three one-hour rounds per day. Rounds 10, 11 and 12 are due to be completed on Tuesday.
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 16 August, 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.
Meanwhile in other mobile news from the U.S., AT&T became the last of the four major carriers to announce it will provide mobile roaming services in Cuba. The operator reached roaming and direct interconnection agreements with Empresa De Telecomunicaciones De Cuba (ETECSA). Rivals T-Mobile US, Sprint and Verizon have already signed similar agreements with ETECSA.
