From BTAB Jeffrey Hines and Bo Fifer: PCS Reauction Update: Day 8 HIGHLIGHTS:
-- The re-auction of PCS frequencies entered stage 2 on day 8 (1-Apr).
After 22 rounds of bidding (the pace of the auction has increased to 4
rounds/day), the auctions have yielded net bids of $384 million. Early
results, while not terribly significant, are nonetheless interesting
(please see our note dated 22-Mar for identification of the top 10
qualifying participants).
-- TOP FIVE BIDDERS BY NET BID
(we note that an entity's bid amount can fluctuate (wildly) from round to
round--as opposed to necessarily rising each round--if it loses a high bid
position)
Bidder Markets Bid ($Mil)
Cook Inlet/VoiceStream PCS 21 187.4
OPCS Three 33 46.5
Viper Wireless 5 25.5
ABC Wireless 62 21.6
Leap Wireless 21 18.3
Source: Federal Communications Commission.
-- TOP FIVE MARKETS BY NET BID
Market Bidder Bid ($Mil)
Bid/POP
Chicago (30MHz) Cook Inlet/VoiceStream 117.8
$14.40
Dallas (30MHz) Cook Inlet/VoiceStream 62.4
$14.40
New Orleans (15 MHz) Viper Wireless 18.0
$13.15
St. Louis (30 MHz) OPCS Three 14.6
$5.35
Detroit (30 MHz) OPCS Three 13.1
$2.80
Source: Federal Communications Commission.
-- RECENT BIDDING ACTIVITY BY ROUND
New Net % Eligible
Round High Bids Bids Chg. Bid
19 53 $368M 2% 60
20 41 $372M 1% 59
21 44 $377M 1% 59
22 43 $384M 2% 59
Source: Federal Communications Commission.
-- NET-NET: The auction entered stage 2 amid signs of slowing down with net
bids continuing to show sluggish, low-single-digit increases and, more
importantly, bidders continue to drop out (over 10% of qualified bidders
have dropped out). However, plenty of bidders remain, and plenty of
bidding credits remain eligible so it's likely still too early to draw any
definitive conclusions. All ten of the top ten qualifiers remain eligible.
We note that while Chicago and Dallas represent the top two bids on a per-
POP basis at $14.40/POP and $14.40/POP, that Cook Inlet / VoiceStream has
not had to raise its bid here for the last several days - perhaps an
indication that the auction may begin to focus on some of the smaller
markets and perhaps indicating that an end is near. New Orleans (another
GSM hole) has attracted the 3rd highest bid on a per-POP basis, at $13.15.
The average is currently $1.45/POP for markets with an active bid... Stay
tuned. |
