FCC 3.45 GHz Auction Rules Include Some Changes

The FCC released rules for the 3.45 GHz auction, to start Oct. 5, in a Wednesday Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics public notice. The FCC will auction 4,060 10 MHz flexible-use licenses in the contiguous 48 states and Washington, D.C., the PN said. All will be for 15 years and renewable. Licensees may hold up to four 10 MHz blocks in the band in any market. Short-form applications are due July 21, upfront payments Sept. 2. Staff rejected complaints by the Rural Wireless Association and Blooston carriers that the timing is too aggressive. The timing “is not only consistent with the Commission’s historical timing between spectrum auctions, it is actually considerably longer than the period between most recent spectrum auctions,” the FCC said: “Neither RWA nor Blooston have made any attempt to explain how this auction differs from previous spectrum auctions such that potential applicants need an entire year to prepare.” The agency adopted a $25 million cap on bidding credit discounts for an eligible small business and $10 million on discounts for an eligible rural service provider, same as proposed. “We are unpersuaded by comments suggesting that the adoption of a $25 million cap has inhibited participation by small businesses in recent auctions,” the PN said. It relented on minimum bids. “Given the totality of the comments regarding the proposed minimum opening bid amounts and how they might affect potential new entrants and small carriers, we adopt revised, lower minimum opening bid amounts … as proposed by Verizon and supported by US Cellular and T-Mobile,” the FCC said. The notice adopts 3 cents per MHz/POP for partial economic areas 1-50, .006 cent for PEAs 51-100 and .003 cent for all other markets, with a minimum bid of $1,000. The agency had proposed 6 cents/MHz/POP for PEAs 1-50 and 2 cents elsewhere. The PN rejected AT&T’s request to address the “no excess supply” rule in cases where a bidder wishes to reduce demand from two blocks to none and only one block of that reduction can be applied due to insufficient excess demand. “We disagree with AT&T’s premise that a license for a single block of spectrum in the 3.45 band cannot be used efficiently,” the FCC said. “This auction will bring us closer to 5G service that is fast, secure, resilient, and most importantly, available across the country,” said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. It had sought comment in a notice commissioners OK’d 4-0 in March (see 2103170061).