The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has confirmed that a total of 33 applicants have qualified to bid in next month’s Auction 110 spectrum sale. The process will offer new flexible‐use licences in the 3.45GHz–3.55GHz band throughout the contiguous United States. The sale process will offer up to 100MHz of spectrum divided into ten 10MHz blocks and licensed by Partial Economic Area (PEA), for a total of 4,060 licences. Bidding in Auction 110 is scheduled to begin on 5 October 2021.
As per FCC documentation, the list includes major players AT&T Communications (bidding as AT&T Auction Holdings), Verizon Wireless (Cellco Partnership) and T-Mobile US (T-Mobile License), alongside regional player UScellular (United States Cellular Corporation). Fierce Wireless previously noted that DISH Network will bid via a holding company called Weminuche, while Grain Management, which owns a number of regional ISPs, will bid via New Level III.
A further nine companies were deemed to be ‘not qualified’, including the likes of Frontier Communications.