Cost to Close Incentive Auction Won't Be More Than About $10 Billion
The FCC TV incentive auction won't total more than about $10 billion, according to just-released agency figures. The reverse auction clearing cost for Stage 4 is $10.05 billion, said the FCC Public Reporting System. That's down from approximately $40 billion that previously would have been needed to close the auction in the past stage. Some we previously canvassed expected a major drop from that $40 billion figure, but not all the way to $10 billion.
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One expert said in an interview Friday afternoon that this is less than he expected. "I would expect that there will be enough interest among wireless bidders to close the incentive auction" in the coming Stage 4 forward auction, said BIA/Kelsey Chief Economist Mark Fratrik. Another expert said the same.
Next up is the forward auction portion of Stage 4. This is where wireless carriers will bid for the TV spectrum, which in total it would cost about $10 billion for those companies to purchase for wireless/broadband.
Stage 4, should the auction conclude, also would clear less spectrum than the previous stage. The ongoing stage if it were the last stage would clear 84 MHz, versus 108 MHz for the unsuccessful Stage 3, noted an FCC Incentive Auction Task Force spokesman in an interview Friday. He declined further comment.