The FCC closed bidding yesterday on the offering of 280 megahertz of mid-band spectrum in the 3.7–3.98 GHz band, aka, the “3.7 GHz Service,” for flexible use, including 5G. Bidding in the clock phase occurred December 8, 2020–January 1, 2021, and bidding in the assignment phase, which provided winning bidders with the opportunity to bid for frequency-specific licenses corresponding to their clock phase winnings, occurred February 8, 2021–February 17, 2021.
The FCC will release official notification to winning bidders which specifies the deadlines for payments and long-form applications and gives details for other post-auction procedures. Concurrent with that release, the Public Reporting System will be updated with complete round-by-round auction results, including bidder identities.
“While it’s possible we could get that notice this week,” Philip Burnett of New Street Research said, “it usually takes the FCC about a week from the assignment phase end until the announcement of the winners, meaning it’s more likely we’ll get the announcement of winners next week. After results are announced,” he said, “the winners will be required to make 20 percent deposits within 10 business days, at which point the quiet period will end.”
Burnett said final payments will be due 10 business days after deposits are due. Assuming the winner announcement comes in a week, the quiet period would end on March 10, and final payments would be due on March 24.
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