After two months, 341 rounds, and nearly $44.9 billion of bids, the FCC’s AWS-3 auction (Auction 97) has drawn to a close. In the coming days, the FCC is expected to release its post-auction public notice containing detailed auction results, application and payment deadlines, and winning bidder identities for the 1600+ AWS-3 licenses. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has remarked that Auction 97 has been by far the highest-earning spectrum auction the United States has ever seen. With this auction providing new perspective on the spectrum market, all eyes now turn to the Incentive Auction set for early 2016.
