WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Communications Commission is celebrating the conclusion of its AWS-3 auction, which is being hailed as “highly successful” and demonstrated that “the demand for spectrum is high, and America is again leading the world.”
Auction bidding beat expectations with significant per-unit prices and gross winning bids exceeding $3.5 billion. Through the auction, valuable mid-band spectrum that was previously idle has been allocated for productive use.
The auction also demonstrates, the Commission says, that the FCC’s Auctions program is running strong, despite the previous lapse in authority and a four-year gap in conducting an auction.
“The FCC is well prepared for its forthcoming Upper C-Band auction,” the Commission said on Tuesday, adding that the agency is on schedule to meet Congress’s deadline to complete a system of competitive bidding for at least 100 megahertz in the Upper C-band no later than July 2027.
“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.”
Bidding in the AWS-3 auction, formally designated as Auction 113, began on June 2. Seventeen qualified bidders participated in the auction, which ran for 72 rounds.
Up to $3.3 billion of the auction’s proceeds will be used to cover amounts borrowed to support the FCC’s “rip and replace” program and other Commerce Department programs. The auction made available 200 spectrum licenses in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, and 2155-2180 MHz bands which were subject to bid defaults or bid withdrawals in the 2014 auction and thus have remained unused in the FCC’s inventory since then.
The auction that concluded was important, the FCC added, as Auction 113 also featured the debut of the FCC’s new application system, a step towards the FCC’s goal of increasing efficiency in agency operations.
