Regulator to open up mmWave frequencies in 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz bands

With an auction of millimeter wave frequencies in the 28 GHz band going on current, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, in a meeting today, set the rules for a further auction of mmWave licenses in the 37 GHz, 39 GHz and 47 GHz bands in 2019.

Key pieces of the FCC auction rules include:

• The spectrum will be auctioned in 100 megahertz blocks based on Partial Economic Areas to enable a simultaneous auction;
• The bidding will follow an incentive auction mechanism considering contiguous blocks;
• And a pre-auction process " that allows incumbent licensees to rationalize their holdings."

Between the three mmWave bands, the FCC is opening up a total of 3,400 megahertz of high-band frequencies, which are a key piece of delivering the multi-gigabit-per-second speeds associated with 5G.

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