Are we really surprised?
Stage 3 of the FCC’s forward auction closed after a single round on Monday, propelling the proceedings toward an expected Stage 4 reverse auction start date next week.
According to the FCC’s Incentive Auction Dashboard, Stage 3 forward auction proceeds totaled just $19.7 billion against a clearing cost of $40.3 billion. BTIG’s Walter Piecyk noted the figure represented an 8.6 percent drop from the Stage 2 proceed total.
