FCC Schedules ATG Auction for May 10 With Interest Running High
The FCC Wed. scheduled its long-awaited air-to-ground (ATG) 800 MHz auction for May 10. Companies led by Verizon’s Airfone, a prospective bidder, had asked the FCC to schedule an auction as soon as possible. The auction means that passengers on some commercial flights could have access to broadband through the ATG spectrum as early as next year.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
The FCC voted out the original ATG order establishing an auction in late 2004. While Airfone, the incumbent since it already has phones on commercial airliners, leads the pack of potential bidders, other companies led by AirCell, Boeing and Space Data are also considered likely contenders. Some nontraditional entrants also could participate in the auction, industry sources said.
“From what I can see it looks like we're ready to go to auction,” said Bill Gordon, vp-regulatory affairs for AirCell. “We can’t find anything initially that looks like its objectionable. The opening bids don’t seem unreasonable; the reserve bids don’t seem unreasonable; the process doesn’t seem unreasonable; and the timing is okay with AirCell.” Gordon said AirCell plans to bid for an exclusive license but is keeping its options open.
“We are ecstatic that the Commission has brought this auction to fruition,” Robert Combs, dir.-operations for Airfone, which has indicated only plans to pursue only an exclusive license. “We're very pleased with the timing. As far as details really it’s too early to make any comment one way or another.”
The FCC set minimum bids for the auction to be completed, though a final decision on them will follow public comment. The Wireless Bureau proposed a reserve price of $5 million for the entire band. Since the FCC is allowing a number of possibilities - licensees could share the spectrum through overlapping licenses, or a single license holder could buy it all -- it set other minimums. For example, bids for 3 MHz licenses, with 2 MHz shared, must be at least $1.5 million each, the Wireless Bureau proposed. An exclusive bid for the 3 MHz license must be at least $2.8 million.
“If commenters believe that these minimum opening bid amounts will result in unsold licenses, or are not reasonable amounts, or should instead operate as reserve prices, they should explain why this is so, and comment on the desirability of an alternative approach,” the bureau said in its notice. It said commenters should support their claims with “valuation analyses and suggested reserve prices or minimum opening bid amount levels or formulas.” The FCC asks for comments by Jan. 31, replies Feb. 7.