US official says upcoming spectrum auctions could generate more than $100 billion

WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said Wednesday that a series of upcoming wireless spectrum auctions over the next couple of ‌years could generate more than $100 billion in proceeds.

In July, the U.S. telecom regulator ‌voted to hold a 2027 auction of 160 megahertz of mid-band spectrum in the Upper C-Band next year. Carr ​said the administration is moving to conduct three additional auctions following the C-Band auction, saying it has provided formal notification of the plans with a goal of completing them by the end of 2028.

Carr said there is broader interest in wireless spectrum beyond AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, which provide nearly ‌all mobile phone service in ⁠the U.S., adding the auctions will help spark new competition.

"We're seeing real response in the market in ways that we didn't see just a couple ⁠of years ago," Carr said.

In May, the FCC approved EchoStar's $40 billion sale of wireless spectrum to SpaceX and AT&T and Verizon's 2024 $1 billion deal to acquire some spectrum assets from U.S. Cellular.

SpaceX acquired ​spectrum for ​a Starlink device-to-device service and other offerings. Last ​week, the FCC said it was ‌moving to open more wireless spectrum for space-based broadband service.

The agency previously approved SpaceX's plan to deploy thousands of additional satellites to allow for next-generation mobile services as well as internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second.

On Friday, the Trump administration said it was setting the groundwork for multiple 6G wireless auctions in 2028. The FCC is moving aggressively to auction ‌off large chunks of spectrum to address fast-growing wireless ​needs and advanced technologies like artificial intelligence, driverless cars, connected ​sensors and other uses.

"It's more competition. ​It drives prices down for consumers. It raises money for the Treasury," ‌Carr said, noting that a prior auction ​raised funds to replace Chinese ​gear in U.S. networks that raised national security concerns.

A study released by wireless industry association CTIA said in 2025, Americans used 159.3 trillion megabytes of data - 20% more ​data than was used in ‌2024.

AI is growing three times faster than standard wireless traffic and is expected to ​make up nearly a third of all broadband traffic by 2034, the CTIA ​said.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)