ss networks. Japan's allocation of spectrum was based on the government's evaluation of organizations' ability to build and manage a cellular network. These were dubbed beauty contests. Strategies to Gain Rights to Spectrum Rules about spectrum allocations are set by the FCC and by Congress. The rights to these blocks are strategic assets that enable carriers to offer new, competitive services. Mobile carriers and governments use the following strategies to gain new spectrum: www.TechnicalPDF.com Purchase rights to it at government auctions Discontinue the use of their older cellular services and refarm this spectrum for more advanced protocols. Currently, mobile carriers are building LTE Advanced and 5G networks on spectrum formerly used for 2nd and 3rd generation networks. (See below for refarming.) Purchase entire companies for their spectrum Purchase non-cellular companies' unused spectrum (See the feature "Acquiring Spectrum by Buying Companies that Own Spectrum Suitable for 5G" later in this chapter.) In order to free up spectrum for high-capacity mobile networks or other national needs, organizations and government agencies already using these bands must be moved to other bands. Using Incentive Auctions to Speed Up Spectrum Availability In February 2012, Congress allocated $7 billion for the build-out of a nationwide public safety network and authorized the use of an incentive auction for that purpose. In an incentive auction, entities selling spectrum to the government keep lowering their prices until the FCC determines the amount of money they collect from the auction is adequate to pay for needed spectrum from the entities giving it up. The FCC held the first incentive auction in 2016 and announced the results in 2017. It offered the D Block of 700Mhz spectrum that analog TV stations ceded in return for spectrum for digital television. The auction raised $19.8 billion, $10.8 billion to pay for the broadcasters' spectrum and more than $7 billion that was deposited in the U.S. Treasury. AT&T won the bid i