FCC to Sell Maximum Amount in TV Airwave Auction
April 29 2016 - 3:00PM
Dow Jones News
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.
AT&T (NYSE:T)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
AT&T (NYSE:T)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024