The first phase of one of the most hotly watched spectrum auctions of the past year, the USA’s C-band auction, has ended, delivering gross proceeds of $80.91bn. The huge sum dwarfs the total generated by the last record-breaking US auction in terms of fees paid, 2004’s AWS-3 sale, which netted almost $45bn. This reflects the shortage of midband spectrum available to US 5G deployers, which denied them the tactic adopted by operators in every other region – of using relatively high frequency spectrum in the 3.4-3.7 GHz range to add significant 5G capacity where required, while continuing to rely on 4G for coverage; but without having to take on the ecosystem and propagation challenges associated with even higher 5G bands…