Spectrum of Possibilities

The Federal Communications Commission's AWS-3 (advanced wireless services) auction is going gangbusters, exceeding some analyst predictions and pushing toward $30 billion in bids for 65 MHz of wireless broadband spectrum. Verizon and AT&T are expected to get the lion's share of that, but the wireless appetite for spectrum is large, and given the prices being paid for spectrum that is not as conducive to wireless broadband as the 600 MHz of spectrum in the broadcast band, the success of the AWS-3 auction could have major ramifications for broadcasters when their spectrum goes on the block.

The AWS-3 auction is the second of three auctions mandated by Congress to free up spectrum for wireless, one of the Obama Administration's signature telecommunications goals, and to fund the FirstNet interoperable broadband network, as well as local first responders, advanced 911, R&D and deficit reduction. The first auction, of H block spectrum, collected $1.564 billion toward that goal, now AWS-3 has blown by its major reserve price and is into uncharted -- at least by most analysts -- territory in terms of dollars brought in. So if 65 MHz of AWS-3 spectrum is worth $30 billion, and maybe more, the FCC's high-end $45 billion valuation of 125 MHz of broadcast spectrum, a figure it is pitching to broadcasters in pamphlets and road shows, doesn't look so high-end any more.