Someone at the FCC is lacking patience: as of today, the 700MHz spectrum auction enters the so-called “Phase 2″ where companies interested in taking away one of the five Blocks will have to be more forceful with their bidding.  To start, the commission has reduced the bid-increment from 5-percent of the existing figure to 2-percent, while it has also made greater demands on each participant’s “eligibility”.  This complicated factor is based on each company’s financial status and any upfront payments they may have made; in Phase 2, they are required to use 95-percent of their eligibility, as opposed to 80-percent in Phase 1.

The auction will continue to play out until none of the 1,099 licences have any further bids; as of round 35, there were 87 new bids and a total of $18.9bn raised.  Block D, which has been giving the FCC headaches because of its low-activity, remains at $472m with a single bid.