FCC Accelerates Incentive Auction Bidding to Bring Auction to a Close
The FCC said it's speeding up the current phase of the forward incentive auction to four bidding rounds per day, with an eye on closing the auction. The change takes effect Monday. Increasing the number of bidding rounds is the…
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usual practice for the agency as bidding activity slows. “We may make subsequent schedule changes based upon our monitoring of the bidding and assessment of the auction's progress,” the agency announced Thursday. The FCC also assured winning bidders it soon will have more information on the auction's assignment phase, with an announcement to come a few days after the forward auction ends. In the assignment phase, winning bidders of generic frequency blocks will bid on specific frequencies. “Within a few business days after the end of the clock phase, we expect to release a public notice announcing when bidding in the assignment phase will begin and providing information on assignment phase bidder education materials,” the FCC said. “The bidder education materials include an online tutorial and an assignment phase bidding system user guide.” It said a user guide “will allow bidders to begin familiarizing themselves with the functionality of the assignment phase bidding system, which is different from the one used for the clock phase.” The commission also plans a short preview period allowing bidders to log into the system “approximately a week after the bidder education materials become available online,” the FCC said. “After the preview period, we will provide bidders an opportunity to get familiar with bidding in the assignment phase by participating in a practice auction followed by a mock auction. Details about how the practice and mock auctions will be set up and when they will occur will be provided in the public notice we release after the clock phase concludes.” After 11 bidding rounds of Phase 4 of the auction, bidding stands at $18.54 billion. The FCC will hold two more bidding rounds Friday. Preston Padden, a consultant to station owners on the auction, said the notice makes clear the quiet period for the auction won’t be over anytime soon. “Today the FCC explained that the assignment round will last long after carrier bidding ends,” Padden emailed. “Broadcast bidding already has ended. It truly is crazy and unsupportable to continue the gag order on broadcasters.” Padden recently filed a comment backing an immediate end to the broadcaster quiet period (see 1701230046).