US expects more than $100 billion from spectrum auctions — Channel NewsAsia
US Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said in Washington that a series of planned auctions to sell rights to use radio spectrum could generate more than $100 billion in proceeds over the coming years. Channel NewsAsia reports, citing Reuters.
Auctions through 2028
In July, the US telecommunications regulator voted to hold an auction in 2027 for 160 megahertz of mid-band spectrum in the upper C-band. According to Carr, the administration plans to hold three more auctions afterward and has already formally announced these intentions. They are planned to be completed by the end of 2028.
Carr noted that interest in spectrum is not limited to AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, which provide almost all mobile services in the United States. In his view, the auctions could strengthen competition: the official said the market is responding more actively than it did several years ago.
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Demand for frequencies
In May, the FCC approved EchoStar's $40 billion sale of radio spectrum to SpaceX and AT&T. In 2024, Verizon also reached a $1 billion deal to acquire part of U.S. Cellular's spectrum assets.
SpaceX acquired frequencies for its service enabling direct device connections to Starlink and for other services. Last week, the FCC said it was opening more spectrum for satellite broadband communications. The regulator had previously approved SpaceX's plan to deploy thousands of additional satellites for next-generation mobile services and internet at speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second.
President Donald Trump's administration said last Friday that it was preparing for several frequency auctions for 6G networks in 2028. According to industry association CTIA, Americans used 159.3 trillion megabytes of data in 2025, 20% more than in 2024. CTIA also said artificial intelligence-related traffic is growing three times faster than regular wireless traffic and could account for nearly a third of all broadband traffic by 2034.
