The FCC announced procedures and key dates for Auction 110, which will offer ten 10 MHz licenses in each of 411 Partial Economic Areas (PEAs) in the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia, covering the 3450-3550 MHz band, for a total of 4,060 mid-band spectrum licenses. A single licensee may hold up to four licenses within any PEA at any given time during the first four years after the auction closes. Licenses will be issued for 15-year renewable terms.

Key Dates

• Short-Form Application Filing Window: July 8, 2021 – July 21, 2021, 6 p.m. ET
• Deadline for Upfront Payments: September 2, 2021, 6:00 p.m. ET
• Bidding Tutorial Available: No later than September 16, 2021
• Mock Auction: September 30, 2021
• Bidding Begins: October 5, 2021

Due Diligence

The FCC's Public Notice encourages potential applicants to perform due diligence before participating in Auction 110. In particular, the Public Notice cites the transition of incumbent operations, the cooperative framework for sharing the band between federal users and new flexible use licensees, and other factors as considerations for bidders. While in 334 PEAs new licensees will have unrestricted use of all ten blocks, there are 72 PEAs that cover, wholly or partially, Cooperative Planning Areas or Periodic Use Areas, in which new licensees must coordinate with incumbent federal operations.

Upfront Payments and Minimum Opening Bids 

The upfront payment amount for a generic block in each in PEA is based on $0.01 per MHz-pop. The payment amount per block is set forth in the Attachment A at Auction 110: 3.45 GHz Service | Federal Communications Commission (fcc.gov). The minimum opening bid amount for a block in a PEA is based on $0.03 per MHz-pop for PEAs 1-50, $0.006 per MHz-pop for PEAs 51-100, and $0.003 per MHz-pop for all other PEAs, with a minimum of $1000. The payment amount per block is set forth in Attachment A at Auction 110: 3.45 GHz Service | Federal Communications Commission (fcc.gov).