The Federal Communications Commission said Friday it plans to sell 100 megahertz of airwave licenses in its latest auction, the maximum amount possible.

The so-called clearing target is the next step in the complex process of the government buying airwaves from local TV stations and then reselling those licenses to cellphone operators. The FCC plans to sell 10 licenses in most markets, consisting of 10 megahertz apiece.

By comparison, AT&T Inc. currently has about 151 megahertz in the top markets, according to UBS Group AG, while Verizon Communications Inc. has 114 and T-Mobile US Inc. has 82.

The FCC will next bid for the TV stations in a reverse auction in which prices are dropped each round until the agency gets what it needs to rearrange the airwaves at the cheapest price. That process will begin on May 31 and should take four to six weeks, according to a senior FCC official.

Once that ends, the FCC will begin a more traditional sale with licenses going to the highest bidders, a process that is expected to close by year end. However, if the price paid by buyers like AT&T and Verizon doesn't cover the FCC's cost, the entire process restarts.

The airwaves themselves may take years to become clear because the signals of many television stations will be relocated.

The airwaves being shuffled around are prime for sending signals far into the countryside but are also good for penetrating deep into buildings. Major players like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Dish Network Corp., and Comcast Corp. have applied to join the bidding. Sprint Corp. has said it won't.

The government's last airwaves auction sold 65 megahertz and was the first major sale since 2008. It closed in January 2015 with bids of nearly $45 billion.

Nearly 2,000 televisions stations were eligible to join the sale process, but the FCC hasn't disclosed how many elected to partake. Executives from CBS Corp., Comcast, 21st Century Fox Inc. and some others have said they would participate in the auction.

Write to Thomas Gryta at thomas.gryta@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 29, 2016 14:45 ET (18:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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