Notice on 2.5 GHz Auction Makes Case for Single-Round Auction
The FCC’s 2.5 GHz auction procedures notice suggests a single-round, sealed-bid auction design would be quicker to implement than the more traditional simultaneous multiple round (SMR) format. The notice seeks comment on both (see 2101130067). The single round “would remain…
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open long enough to give bidders ample time to submit, review and potentially resubmit, and confirm their bids,” said the docket 20-429 notice posted in Thursday's Daily Digest: “Bids submitted during the round would need to meet the activity rule. After the round closes, the submitted bids would be processed by the bidding system to determine the winning bids.” The number of licenses to be auctioned is “very large,” with about 8,300 up for sale, the FCC says: “An SMR auction could last for months, which would require participating bidders to monitor the auction consistently, a resource commitment that is demanding for all bidders, but particularly for smaller entities, many of which we expect will compete.” A traditional auction also “entails a longer prohibited communications quiet period,” the notice said. A single-round auction could “help overcome some of the inherent advantages of incumbent rights holders in the band and increase overall competition in the auction.”