NEWS

Federal Communications Commission

News Media Information 202 / 418-0500

445 12 th Street, S.W.

Internet: http://www.fcc.gov

Washington, D. C. 20554

TTY: 1-888-835-5322

This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.

See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:

January 29, 2015

Louis Peraertz, (202) 418-2100

louis.peraertz@fcc.gov

STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MIGNON L. CLYBURN

ON THE RESULTS OF THE AWS-3 AUCTION

If you had conducted a poll of analysts before the start of the AWS-3 auction, the highest

prediction given for its yield would not have exceeded $18 billion. Seventy-seven days and a record

setting $44.89 billion later, Auction 97 has shown that demand for this spectrum was phenomenal. Some

experts opine that the winning bid total is due in large part to bidding and other competitive strategies

unique to this band. I believe one of the key factors for this unanticipated level of activity is that the

AWS-3 bands are near the AWS-1 bands and there are already base stations and other equipment

available. Once the FCC makes the bidding activity public, I suspect there will be many more stories

about the results of this auction. Nevertheless, what we can all agree on is that the auction's success

would not have been possible without the diligent efforts of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau

staff, who worked in cooperation with NTIA, DoD and other federal agencies to substantially reduce the

protection zones of federal operations in the 1755 and 1780 MHz band. I also want to commend

Chairman Wheeler for developing a band plan with smaller license blocks and geographic license areas,

and crafting a strong interoperability mandate to encourage robust participation by both small and large

entities.

-- FCC--

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