AWS-3 Auction Concludes with All 200 Licenses Sold
UPDATE The FCC’s reauction of 200 Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) licenses in the AWS-3 bands ended yesterday afternoon after 72 bidding rounds. Gross proceeds were more than $3.5 billion in the auction that began on June 2. Up to $3.3 billion of the auction’s proceeds will be used to cover amounts borrowed to support the FCC’s Rip & Replace program and other Commerce Department programs.
The auction offered 5G-grade spectrum licenses that were subject to bid defaults or bid withdrawals in the 2014 auction and laid fallow for more than a decade. The event was notable for being the first FCC spectrum auction in nearly four years.
All 200 licenses were sold. None remained with the Commission. Seventeen entities bid for licenses in AWS-3 bands (1695–1710 MHz, 1755–1780 MHz, and 2155–2180 MHz) in Auction 113. The 1755-1780 MHz band was licensed paired with the 2155-2180 MHz band, with the 1755-1780 MHz band authorized for low-power mobile transmit (uplink) operations and the 2155-2180 MHz band authorized for base station and fixed (downlink) operations.
The highest bid was just over $974 million for a NYC-Long Island license. That was followed by $436.8 million for a Chicago area license and just over $339 million for a license in the city of Chicago. A license in Charlotte, NC went for $111 million.
DISH owner EchoStar (NASDAQ: ECHO) does not need to pay the federal government any money to satisfy an outstanding obligation on behalf of former DISH licenses. Gross bids needed to surpass a $2.9 billion benchmark for EchoStar to be in the clear. That amount was reached in the auction last week.
New Street Research (NSR) did not expect Auction 113 to be a big event from a capital markets perspective, according to NSR Policy Advisor Blair Levin. NSR saw this auction more as a scene-setter for the next big auction. That’s for upper C-band licenses next June, Inside Towers reported.
The FCC had not released the list of winning bidders as of yesterday. The agency said it intends to provide official notification to winning bidders “in the next few business days.” That notice will also spell out payment deadlines and give details of post-auction procedures.
“After years on the sidelines, FCC auctions are finally back,” said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. “Today’s successful auction generated billions of dollars in competitive bids to put spectrum to effective commercial use, and it bolsters competition in the wireless marketplace. We will carry this momentum forward as we prepare for the upper C-band auction in the year ahead.”
“This auction shows that Washington is serious about once again putting spectrum to work for the American people,” said CTIA President/CEO Ajit Pai. “We thank FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for the focus and execution that brought us to this milestone. To secure America’s AI and innovation leadership we must build on this momentum by accelerating action to deliver on the President and Congress’ 800 MHz spectrum pipeline.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
