Bids in the latest US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction of mmWave spectrum surpassed $700 million on the opening day, as companies competed for allocations in the upper 37GHz, 39GHz, and 47GHz bands.
During the sale, the third for mmWave in the space of a year, 3400MHz will go under the hammer.
In a statement, FCC chairman Ajit Pai said: “Auctioning the 39GHz and upper 37GHz bands together presents a critical opportunity for 5G deployment as it represents the largest amount of contiguous spectrum available in the mmWave bands.”
The sale follows two auctions in H1 [1]. The first covered licences in the 28GHz band and raised $702 million. The second, for allocations in the 24GHz band [2], made $2 billion.
While mmWave allocations are still attracting huge bids, the FCC is facing calls [3] to accelerate distribution of mid-band spectrum, which is seen as vital to propagating 5G services over wider areas.
The FCC plans to hold auctions for spectrum within the mid-band range during 2020. Its 3.5GHz auction is slated for 25 June, with a sale in the 3.7GHz to 4.2GHz band to follow.
[1] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/top-three/us-operators-go-large-on-mmwave-auction/[2] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/top-three/us-majors-splash-cash-for-5g-frequencies/
[3] https://www.mobileworldlive.com/featured-content/top-three/us-cellular-chief-calls-for-swift-move-on-mid-band/
