Clock phase of 24 GHz auction concludes with $1.9B in bids

The clock phase of the FCC’s 24 GHz auction, also known as Auction 102, ended after round 91, just shy of $2 billion, with $1,988,888,836 in total bids. The process now moves to the assignment phase, where bidders will get frequency-specific licenses.

The FCC said it will release a public notice within the next few business days announcing details about the assignment phase, the date and time when bidding in the assignment phase will begin, and the availability of additional educational materials.

The public notice will also provide information about a preview period during which bidders can download their bidding options and a mock auction that will provide bidders an opportunity to practice using the assignment phase bidding system.

The 24 GHz auction started March 14 and followed the 28 GHz auction, which raised $700 million in proceeds. The winners of both auctions won’t be identified until the conclusion of the 24 GHz auction.

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On a total proceeds basis, New York City led the pack in the 24 GHz auction with $229.4 million in gross proceeds and posted license prices of $41.1 million across the five upper blocks and $11.9 million across the lower two blocks, according to Sasha Javid, COO at The Spectrum Consortium. Los Angeles finished second with total proceeds totaling $166.7 million and posted license prices of $31.6 million across the upper five blocks and $4.3 million for the lower two blocks.

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Other top markets include Chicago ($117.6 million in total proceeds), Washington, D.C. ($82.0 million in total proceeds) and San Francisco ($79.5 million in total proceeds).

Van Horn, Texas, retained its title of most expensive Partial Economic Area on a price per MHz-POP basis throughout the auction, averaging just over 9 cents ($0.0924) for its two products (five 100-MHz upper blocks and two 100-MHz lower blocks), according to Javid, who has been keeping a running tally of the results.