After a daylong suspension earlier this week due to weather, the FCC’s 28 GHz spectrum auction kicked back into gear more than two months after it began. Through 140 rounds of bidding, the total amount of provisionally winning bids has reached $697,875,670.
Activity has mostly waned with each subsequent round of bidding, but the auction won’t come to a close until a round ends with no new bids placed. The total amount of provisionally winning bids did, however, grow in round 140 by $332,150. Some rounds see hardly any activity, such as round 127 which ended with just an $80 change in the total new bids placed.
Round 140 ended with 40 new bids, the highest going to a license covering Coconino, Arizona, for $308,000 and the lowest going to Trego, Kansas, for $790. A license for 28 GHz spectrum covering Yellowstone National Park in Montana received a bid for $1,500.
RELATED: FCC’s 28 GHz auction suspended due to weather
While the FCC has suspended most of its operations since Jan. 3 due to the partial government shutdown, the spectrum auction has continued without interruption because staffers that manage the auction are paid out of auction proceeds. Bidding in Auction 101 continues throughout the day.