FCC 700 Mhz Auction Update

Russ Steele

I was hopping that Google would win some of the 700Mhz Spectrum and use it for WiMAX wireless but is not going to happen. The 700-megahertz spectrum is considered valuable because it can go long distances and penetrate thick walls and wet trees which we have here in the foothills.

Here is the update from Reuters:

Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T were big winners in the U.S. government's auction of wireless licenses that raised a record $19.59 billion, the Federal Communication Commission said on Thursday.

Verizon Wireless, a joint venture with Vodafone Group Plc, won the nationwide "C" block of the auction, giving it control of a major piece of the airwaves being vacated by television broadcasters as they move to digital signals in early 2009.

AT&T won 227 licenses from among the "B" block of regional licenses, but Internet leader Google Inc, while it submitted a serious bid for the C block, in the end won no licenses, the FCC said.

Frontier Wireless, a partner of U.S. satellite television company EchoStar, gained airwaves in the "E" block of the auction, covering almost all of the United States.