US telcos unlikely to spend big in latest mid-band spectrum sale

Round one of the latest 5G spectrum auction in the US got underway on Tuesday and early indications are that it will be a more muted process than the recent C-band mega-sale.
33 bidders are taking part in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) auction of 100 MHz of frequencies in the 3.45 GHz band. Round one brought in US$609 million worth of bids, rising to $672 million after round two, the most recent to be completed at the time of writing.
The FCC has set a reserve price