After the first day of the FCC's latest 5G spectrum auction (Tuesday, Oct. 5), bidding had reached $672,410,700, with New York and L.A. drawing the top bids.
The auction still has quite a ways to go before it reaches the reserve price of $14,775,354,330, the minimum that has to be bid in aggregate before the auction could close.
There are 33 bidders in the mix for 4,060 flexible use licenses--they can be used for fixed or mobile service--comprising 100 MHz of spectrum in the 3.45-3.55 GHz band. The spectrum is subject to sharing with the Department of Defense, the incumbent user in the band. DOD identified the 100 MHz it said it could share with commercial operations so long as there were interference protections.
The renewable licenses are for 15 years, initially, and are subject to performance requirements. There are small business, rural and tribal business credits, capped at $25 million for small business and $10 million for rural service providers.
Currently, the FCC is conducting three, one-hour rounds per day.
