The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is starting its first mid-band 5G spectrum auction today, marking a key step toward opening up 5G spectrum for the commercial marketplace. “5G is critical to America’s global economic and technological leadership, and the start of the 3.5 GHz auction today is a key milestone in our work advancing this national priority,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said. The FCC’s Auction 105 will offer seven Priority Access Licenses across each license area, totaling 22,631 licenses auctioned off nationwide. FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly explained, “After fixing past policy errors, we’re now set to allow auction magic to efficiently allocate 70 megahertz per county for innovative wireless services, making 3.5 GHz the first new 5G mid-band spectrum in the U.S.”
