For anyone in the U.S. who wants better cell coverage, an auction that began late Tuesday may be the start of a brighter future.

It will end with some TV channels reassigned to cellular, helping mobile networks cover more ground and cut through walls better than they do now.

That’s assuming enough broadcasters want to participate and mobile operators don’t get sticker shock. Both have to play, because this is the first auction of its kind anywhere. It’s two auctions in one, really.

This all came about because over-the-air TV doesn’t need as much spectrum as it did before the digital transition. Meanwhile, mobile networks need more of it to keep up with everything people use their phones for, including a lot of the entertainment they used to get from TV.

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