H Block Update: Within $100 Million of Floor Price

The H block was back in action after a President's day hiatus. At press time, with the last round of the day (87) completed, $1,467,358,000 had been bid on all 176 licenses (one license had been withdrawn, but was back in play on Feb. 18).

There were only six bids and a total of $1,784,000 bid in that round.

The FCC only needs a little less than $100 million more in bids to reach its aggregate floor price of $1,654,000,000, but the auction won't end until there are no more bids or withdrawals or waivers (each bidder gets a certain number of chances not to bid but signal that it doesn't want the auction to end).

The auction is the first of three spectrum auctions to raise money for FirstNet, the interoperable broadband first responder network. Then comes an advanced wireless services auction, followed by the broadcast incentive auction.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.