700 MHz Auction Ends March 21st, 2008
Kevin Rupy

On Wednesday, the FCC announced the end of the 700 MHz spectrum auction, and yesterday, the Commission released the names of the winners.  As many industry analysts had predicted, Verizon Wireless submitted the winning bid of $9.6 billion on the nationwide C-block spectrum; AT&T also invested heavily in the 700 MHz spectrum, bidding a total of $6.6 billion for various licenses in the B-block.

But the larger companies weren’t the only winners in the auction.  FCC Chairman Kevin Martin noted that “a bidder other than a nationwide incumbent won a license in every market” in the auction and that nearly 70 percent of the licenses went to companies other than the nationwide wireless incumbents.  Designated small businesses won 35% of the 1,090 licenses available.

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