FCC to auction H block spectrum in 2014

The FCC announced on Friday that it will start an auction of the 1900 MHz PCS H Block on Jan. 14, 2014. This will be its first major spectrum auction since 2008. The auction is likely to draw interest from Sprint, while Dish Network has signaled it will likely not participate.

The FCC has considered auctioning the 1915-1920MHz and 1995-2000MHz spectrum in the past, but concerns about interference with a nearby PCS block kept the commission from moving forward. An FCC order adopted in June created technical rules to keep the H block from interfering with PCS signals.

"I am pleased that the FCC is moving expeditiously to implement Congress's direction to auction this spectrum," acting commission chair Mignon Clyburn said in a statement. "This will be the first major spectrum auction since 2008, and will help close the spectrum gap as well as contributing to the goal of making mobile broadband available to our nation's first responders."

The spectrum's opening bid price is $1.56 billion. Regardless of who wins the bid, the real winner will be the customers. Once the new spectrum is handed over to the commercial market, companies can start using it to increase their services.

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