Four days after stage two of the reverse auction closes, the FCC has announced that it will launch the second stage of the forward auction portion of the broadcast spectrum incentive auction.

The FCC has released the initial schedule for the next stage of the forward auction, which is set to begin on Oct. 19.

As the incentive auction is now into the second week of its reverse portion, the number of rounds per day could be bumped up to three as bidders become more comfortable with the process.

Another batch of applications from winning bidders in the forward portion of the broadcast incentive auction have been accepted by the FCC.

The fourth and final forward TV spectrum incentive auction has now closed at $19,632,506,746, but the auction itself is not over. Forward auction winners will next vie for specific frequencies.

The FCC is sticking with most of the stuff on the books with the final version of its catalog of covered expenses in the broadcasters’ transition to new spectrum in the post-incentive auction repack, denying most of the tweaks proposed by commenters.

Broadcasters will set their final collective asking price for 108 MHz of TV spectrum on Thursday, and bidding by wireless providers for that spectrum will start four days later, on Monday, Dec. 5.

An FCC official said earlier this week that the post-auction transition clock, which gives stations 90 days to file construction permits and a total of 39 months for the transition, is set to begin with the release of the auction closing and reassignment public notice planned for mid-April.