The USA’s two most recent auctions were both focused on midband spectrum, vital for the economics of 5G but in desperately short supply for two of the big three MNOs. The CBRS auction introduced an innovative three-tiered approach to allocating spectrum in the 3550-3700 MHz band. The recently finalized C-band sale, in 3700-3980 MHz, hit records for the amounts paid by operators – reflecting the midband spectrum hunger of Verizon and AT&T. But those two auctions, both historic in their way, are not the end of the saga of the USA’s 5G allocations. Next on the block will be the 3.45 GHz band (3450-3550 MHz), which sits just below the other two, and is already the focus of heated debate…