Breaking:
Introduction
The Auction System:
Since 1994, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has conducted auctions of licenses for electromagnetic spectrum. These auctions are open to any eligible company or individual that submits an application and upfront payment, and is found to be a qualified bidder by the Commission.
FCC auctions are conducted electronically and are accessible over the Internet. Thus, qualified bidders can place bids from the comfort of their home or office. Further, anyone with access to a computer with a web browser can follow the progress of an auction and view the results of each round.
700 MHz:
The 700 Mhz spectrum is part of the 698-806 MHz band ("700 MHz Band"), which
has been occupied by television broadcasters and is being made
available for new commercial and public safety services as a result of
the digital television (DTV) transition.
Usage:
The 700 Mhz Band licenses may be used for flexible fixed, mobile, and
broadcast uses, including fixed and mobile wireless commercial services
(including FDD- and TDD-based services); fixed and mobile wireless uses
for private, internal radio needs; and mobile and other digital new
broadcast operations. These uses may include two-way interactive,
cellular, and mobile television broadcasting services.
Click here for the Cellular Market Map.
Auction Deadlines
- FCC Form 175 Filing Window Opens: November 19, 2007
- FCC Form 175s due: December 3, 2007
- Upfront Payments due: December 28, 2007
- Mock Auction: January 18, 2008
- Auction Begins: January 24, 2008
List of Approved Bidders
Click here for the FCC list of approved bidders.
Licenses Available
Block A: 176 Economic Area (EA) licenses
Block B: 734 Cellular Market Area (CMA) licenses
Block E: 176 Economic Area (EA) licenses
Block C: 12 Regional Economic Area Grouping (REAG) licenses
Block D: 1 nationwide license (subject to conditions respecting a public/private partnership)
1,099 licenses total
Auction Coverage
The UK is seeing its hopes of being one of the first-mover countries to deploy more advanced mobile data networks, namely LTE and WiMAX, fade as the auction of 2.6GHz spectrum is now not expected to
Read more >>Having been positioned for auction in 2007, the UK 2.6GHz spectrum auction now seems further delayed with the likely target being 2011 before any movement is made. According to Kim Meek, the
Read more >>With the new decade beginning, it is worth reviewing European developments in mobile services markets since the millennium. Subscriber penetration increases continued to outpace expectations, but
Read more >>Being a distant 3rd and 4th in the German mobile market has prompted E-Plus and O2 Germany to discuss jointly bidding for forthcoming spectrum and even network sharing. The two companies believe they
Read more >>It has become a sacred cow that a company has to pay billions of dollars for the privilege of using licensed radio spectrum to build a wireless network. Why? The federal government has raised north
Read more >>Previous page Enter the government's $7.2 billion broadband stimulus plan. This is essentially the modern-day equivalent of the Universal Service Fund, which was conceived in the 1930s to subsidize
Read more >> AT&T is buying 24 700 MHz licenses in the Northwest from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen to support its LTE rollout and meet demands for mobile services in the Northwest, according to an AT&T
Read more >>The goal of creating a nationwide, interoperable broadband network for the public-safety community in the D-Block section of the 700 MHz band is not dead. However, it remains in a state of limbo. A
Read more >>The following is a selected list of important dates in the fate of the D Block.
June 2007: The Public Safety Spectrum Trust, a nonprofit organization made up of public-safety organizations, is
Read more >>Following a recent meeting with the UK's mobile industry, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson was quoted as finding himself ‘encouraged' by the discussions on future spectrum plans. He also said
Read more >>
Comments
1. Government's loss (not getting expected windfall) is gain for bidders/industry. i predict a number of rural telcos and small WISPs will get free spectrum (and thats a good thing for jump starting a number of industry initiatives)
2. Martin could have hyped this auction more. His predecessor, Powell, certainly would have. Example-could have hyped WiMAX triple play (or LTE or EvDo-pick your favorite wireless spec) as 700 MHz application (education? telecommuting? digital divide solutions, etc)
3. Martin shouldn't have set upfront payment so high for that D band if ultimate goal is a national public safety network - in a $ trillion+ federal budget, what's another $ billion in revenue as opposed to another Katrina-type embarassment for First Responder communications?. He could have made up for that shortfall in one of the all commercial licenses.
Thanks for the information i agree with you,senserly susanna j-sten
I AGree with frank. The Timing of the news that US is heading for a Economic Slowdown couldnt have come at a worse time for the FCC & the US Government.
One of the other possibilities although remote(if the spectrum doesnot fetch expected revenues) is that some part of the spectrum may be re-auctioned with new guidelines. Whichever way it is, at this moment there seems to be only one winnder which are the bidders.
What is really a shame is that on one side of Washington the Dept. of Agriculture RUS is loaning hundreds of millions of dollars to companies willing to attempt to build a business in Rural Fixed Wireless Networks. And on the other side of Washington the FCC is selling at a profit the last decent spectrum that would really blast through the foliage, a function that is critical to the technical and business models for Rural Fixed Wireless Broadband. WiFi don't work in the country. Why couldn't one segment of the 700 be carved out for rural broadband RUS awards. The 3.65 that the FCC carved out for Rural Broadband is falling far short. 1.5 miles of coverage in the country for Fixed Wireless deployments is not good enough. These companies already getting 3 and 4 miles with public 900 but the noise floors are rising like a river.
Come on Washington, talk to one another!!
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