After the 16th round of the 700 MHz auction, the FCC is within its minimum reserve range of $10 billion to $15 billion for total provisionally winning bids. The 16th round now stands at $11.6 billion.
Interestingly, the C Block of spectrum, which has open-access rules attached to it, is just under the $4.6-billion reserve price set by the FCC that would trigger the open-access requirement on the spectrum. Bidding for the package of eight C-Block licenses covering the country stopped in round 16. For the third round in a row, no new bids were made on the C-Block package, which leaves the bid on the license at $4.3 billion.
Meanwhile, the A Block reached its $1.8-billion reserve following round 14. The B Block hit its $1.374-billion reserve following the 10th round. Bids on the E Block have reached more than $709 million in potential winning bids and is expected to hit its $903.7-million reserve price soon.
Meanwhile, the D Block of spectrum continues to languish after receiving a single $472 million bid during the first round. The FCC set a minimum reserve price of $1.3 billion on that block, which would require the winning bidder to build out a public-private network with public safety officials.
For more on the auction:
- take a look at this report from RCR Wireless News
- read our dedicated coverage here