FCC Concluded Its First 5G Spectrum Auction In 28GHz Band

The Federal Communications Commission concluded the latest wave of its license auction.

The total amount offered by the bidders, for the rights to use the 5G-compatible band, touched a mark of USD 702 million.

Users will be experiencing a speed of 10 to 40 times faster than current 4G LTE networks on 5G wireless networks which are likely to be available over next few years. And for the 5G wireless networks, 28GHz band is generally considered as best, for which FCC has sold almost 3,000 license to broadcast in that spectrum through its 101^st spectrum auction that begun earlier in November. Details of winners succeeded to get the spectrum, was not disclosed by the FCC, but it said that there remained 107 licenses for which the offered bids were not acceptable to it.

Unlike the 2017 auctions of 600 MHz spectrum that came up raising $20 billion, the current biding was relatively subdued as half of the licenses in 28GHz band, including several prime locations in urban areas, was pre-owned by the Verizon. But the FCC’s upcoming auction plans to sell licenses in other 5G bands should be settling up for having more empty space in those bands.

The bidders who qualified for the agency’s bids were 40, including all four largest carriers T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint and AT&T. In the past FCC auctions, much smaller companies or even individuals succeeded to buy the licenses covering the more rural areas and that is expected to happen again in the auctions ahead.

The highest bid of $12.5 million was for the license covering the Dane, followed by $11.4 million that was bid for license covering the spectrum in Wisconsin, whereas license for area covering Honolulu get the bids of $10.3 million and $10.1 million, while licenses covering Dundy, Nebraska and Glasscock, Texas got the bid of just $200.―News Stories World