- USA Today, Friday, September 15, 2006 11:18 AM
The FCC auction of 1,122 licenses, which could end as early as today, may end up being the most successful wireless auction in history--raising some $14 billion. There was a bigger one in 2000, but it
was overturned in a legal dispute. "This is the largest amount of spectrum we've ever made available," says FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. And the big winners are the big wireless carriers, T-Mobile,
Verizon Wireless and Cingular--which together account for 60 percent of total bids. These companies will use the airwaves to enhance their existing cellular networks, so they can advance services like
wireless Internet and video and improve voice coverage. Indeed, the mobile market is shaping up to be a huge growth area for the carriers, media companies, and soon, advertisers. A consortium owned by
cable providers Time Warner, Comcast and Cox Communications together bid $2.4 billion for spectrum in large cities. These companies are expected to use the airwaves to offer mobile phone, cable
Internet and cable TV packages by teaming up with cell carrier Sprint Nextel. People like being able to pay one bill for multiple services. By itself, T-Mobile came up with $4.2 billion in bids for
119 licenses, largely in metro areas like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. It needed that--as T-Mobile, of the big carriers, had the least spectrum to offer for advanced services like video and
music. Verizon is the No. 2 winner with $2.8 billion in bids, while Cingular is fifth with $1.3 billion. Analysts say it will take at least a year for the new services to roll out, so expect plenty of
fireworks on mobile devices at this time next year.
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