The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed to stage a tender for 28GHz millimetre wave (mmWave) licences on 14 November 2018, with a 24GHz auction process also on the cards. The start date was included in the watchdog’s April agenda, and designates the processes as Auction 101 and Auction 102, respectively. The latter will commence following the conclusion of bidding in Auction 101.
The FCC notes that a total of 1.55GHz of spectrum will be made available in these auctions. The 28GHz licences will be offered in two 425MHz blocks (by county) and the 24GHz licences will be offered in seven 100MHz blocks by Partial Economic Area (PEA).
The auction is designed to support the introduction of 5G wireless services and the development of the IoT sector.