AT&T wins big in 3.45 GHz auction
AT&T was the big winner in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 5G spectrum auction of 3.45 GHz band, winning $9 billion in bids.
Weminuche LLC won $7.3 billion, reportedly on behalf of Dish, but these reports are yet to be confirmed while T-Mobile won $2.9 billion and US Cellular won $580 million in bids.
The total proceeds of the auction generated around $22.5 billion and the FCC said over one-third of the top 100 markets have at least four winning bidders.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel believes that the commission’s decision to pivot to mid-band spectrum for 5G was the right move.
She added: “I am pleased to see that this auction also is creating opportunities for a wider variety of competitors, including small businesses and rural service providers.
“Enabling commercial use of this spectrum is important to America’s continuing economic recovery and 5G leadership, and I look forward to the continued collaboration between the FCC, NTIA, and other federal agencies to find innovative ways to make spectrum available for next generation commercial and government services.”
Belgium launches call for candidates interested in radio spectrum
The Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT) has launched a call to candidates interested in its spectrum auction due to take place in June.
The BIPT is inviting interested parties to submit interest in the action that will allocate spectrum rights in the 700MHz, 900MHz, 1400MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz and the 3600MHz frequency bands.
Companies interested in participating will have until February 16 to submit their “candidacy”.
The auction type that will be used is the so-called “simultaneous multi-stage auction with bids” which was used for the previous allocations of radio spectrum for mobile telecom services in the country.
