28 GHz Auction Tops $500M

The FCC's 28 GHz auction pushed past the $500 million mark Monday in round 37. The total provisional winning bids for the 2,717 licenses on which there are such bids now stands at $509,009,180.

The FCC is auctioning the high-band spectrum to wireless companies as a way to feed the 5G beast.

Round 37 was the third round of the day Monday (Dec. 3), with one more round to go. 

Related: FCC Records Another Record Round in 28 GHz Auction

Round 35 pushed the total to $475,621,330, with the PWB total increasing by $16,959,880 in that round, followed by $15,059,950 in round 36 to bump the total up to $490,671,280. Round 37 recorded $18,337,900 in added bidding bucks. 

All the added bid money in those three rounds were for the same 2,717 licenses, meaning none of the remaining 355 licenses drew a bid. The auction can close without those licenses being bid on since the aggregate PWBs for the auction was only about $40 million. 

The FCC will be closed Wednesday (Dec. 5) for the Day of Mourning for former President George H. W. Bush. Likely the auction will take a break, too. A spokesperson was checking at press time.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.