Bids in the latest US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction of mmWave spectrum surpassed $700 million on the opening day, as companies competed for allocations in the upper 37GHz, 39GHz, and 47GHz bands.

During the sale, the third for mmWave in the space of a year, 3400MHz will go under the hammer.

In a statement, FCC chairman Ajit Pai said: “Auctioning the 39GHz and upper 37GHz bands together presents a critical opportunity for 5G deployment as it represents the largest amount of contiguous spectrum available in the mmWave bands.”

The sale follows two auctions in H1. The first covered licences in the 28GHz band and raised $702 million. The second, for allocations in the 24GHz band, made $2 billion.

While mmWave allocations are still attracting huge bids, the FCC is facing calls to accelerate distribution of mid-band spectrum, which is seen as vital to propagating 5G services over wider areas.

The FCC plans to hold auctions for spectrum within the mid-band range during 2020. Its 3.5GHz auction is slated for 25 June, with a sale in the 3.7GHz to 4.2GHz band to follow.