The Advanced Wireless Servies-3 spectrum auction conducted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) came to an end yesterday registering a record-breaking bidding of $44.89 billion, breezing past the regulator’s initial estimate of a little over $10 billion. In 2008, the FCC conducted a wireless spectrum auction which had accumulated a total of $19.6 billion.
The AWS-3 spectrum auction, which was initiated on Nov 13, 2014, has received as many as 70 applications. Altogether, 1,614 AWS-3 licenses have been put up for sale in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz and 2155-2180 MHz bands. The FCC will declare the name of the license winner on Feb 2, 2015.
The afore-mentioned spectrum bands are highly useful in the deployment of 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) services. Notable auction participants were Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), AT&T Inc. (T), T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS) and DISH Network Corp. (DISH). However, Sprint Corp. (S) was an exception as the company has decided to take part in the forthcoming broadcast incentive auction in 2016 instead.
Unexpectedly high bidding for AWS-3 Spectrum clearly indicates that telecom operators are expecting demand for mobile data and video services to rise further in the long run. Unprecedented growth in high-speed mobile Internet traffic, in particular toward wireless data and video, has transformed the industry into the most evolving, inventive and keenly contested space. Any new network standard aims at providing faster data connectivity, quick video streaming with high resolution and rich multimedia applications.
The spectrum license winners from different regions will upgrade their respective networks to gain a competitive edge. Wireless network standards are continuously evolving around the globe to offer faster speeds. This, in turn, will result in increased capital expenditures and a surge in demand is likely to be seen by telecom infrastructure gear manufacturers.
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