The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced that bidding for 5G-suitable 28GHz band spectrum licences (Auction 101) will commence on 14 November 2018, with the bidding for 24GHz band licences (Auction 102) to begin after the 28GHz auction concludes. The Commission stated that the auctions will accelerate the deployment of 5G services in the Upper Microwave Flexible Use Service (UMFUS) bands (27.5GHz-28.35GHz, 24.25GHz-24.45GHz and 24.75GHz-25.25GHz). The application windows for the two auctions will run concurrently.
28GHz licences will be offered in two 425MHz blocks, regionally allocated by county across the US.
The 24GHz auction will involve an initial bidding phase for generic blocks in each Partial Economic Area, followed by an assignment phase to allow winners of the generic blocks to bid for frequency-specific licence assignments. The 24GHz licences will be offered in seven 100MHz blocks. For further details and Commissioner statements, see the weblink below.