The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2015–2020
FCC auctioned shared mid-band spectrum: $4.58B for priority rights under a Navy-held band
CBRS let the Navy keep the 3.5 GHz band while FCC auctioned 20,625 county-level priority licenses — $4.58B from a database-managed sharing regime.
U.S. Federal Communications Commission
the move
The mid-band spectrum best for 5G was mostly occupied by the U.S. Navy's radar. Clearing it would take years and billions, so the FCC designed a different answer: a three-tier sharing regime in the 3.5 GHz band, adopted in 2015, where incumbents keep priority, licensed users sit below them, and unlicensed users take whatever remains.
In 2020 the FCC ran Auction 105 for the middle tier — 22,631 county-level Priority Access Licenses, seven per county, each 10 MHz wide. Bidding ran from July to August; 271 firms qualified, and 228 won 20,625 licenses.
Gross proceeds reached $4.586 billion (net $4.543 billion) — the largest number of licenses ever sold in a single FCC auction. Verizon paid $1.894 billion, and smaller players, utilities and enterprises chasing private networks took much of the rest.
The licenses are unusual: a PAL does not grant exclusive use, only priority over unlicensed users, while the Navy keeps priority over everyone. A Spectrum Access System database coordinates the three tiers in real time, so the market gets certainty without kicking the federal user out.
why it works
- Auctioning priority rights monetized a band nobody could clear.
- The SAS database automates coordination, so tiers never need to negotiate.
- County-level lots let enterprises and new entrants bid, not just carriers.
- License holders got enforceable priority, which is what investment needed.
what transfers
When a scarce resource cannot be cleared, create a sharing hierarchy, auction the priority layer, and let software enforce the order — the state keeps its use and the market gets priced access.
what came after
The CBRS band became the foundation for private LTE/5G networks in factories, ports and utilities, with the FCC granting the first licenses in March 2021. The three-tier, database-enforced sharing model was later studied as a template for other shared spectrum, including the 3.1-3.45 GHz band.
references
- FCC Announces Winning Bidders of 3.5 GHz Band Auction
- CBRS wireless yields $4.5B+ for licenses to support 5G
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