US 600 MHz incentive auction paves way for other countries

The 600 MHz incentive auction in the US has come to an end after four stages and nearly a year of back-and-forth bidding between mobile operators and TV broadcasters (the incumbent licence holders). A total of 70 MHz of spectrum has sold for $19.3 billion. The unique incentive auction, with the market forces of supply and demand determining how much spectrum moved from TV to mobile use, releases important spectrum to improve mobile coverage. More countries could follow the US and release the 600 MHz band to meet growing mobile broadband needs, though may not necessarily use an incentive auction to clear spectrum in the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) broadcast band. The frequencies of the US 600 MHz band plan could be considered in other countries, raising the possibility of a globally harmonised band plan.