FCC spectrum auction ends after 161 rounds
We're sure that you've been following the FCC's blow-by-blow coverage of the AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) spectrum auction as closely as you would the "So You Think You Can Dance" competition, but just in case you've been busy for the last 161 rounds of bidding, we're here to let you know that the results are in and the winners have been crowned (assuming that they cough up the millions or billions of dollars they've pledged, that is). This wireless horse race has remained mostly unchanged for the last few dozen rounds -- after the DirecTV-Echostar consortium known as Wireless DBS dropped out of the running, even we mostly lost interest -- with T-Mobile finally emerging as the seemingly largest beneficiary. For a cool $4.1 billion (yes, that's billion with a "b"), the Mob picked up 120 licenses covering most of the US, a move that was essential for the company to kick-start its rather slow entrance into the 3G data game. Other big winners included Spectrum Co. and AWS Wireless, who picked up 137 and 154 licenses, respectively, along with Verizon (13 blocks covering most of the Eastern US) and MetroPCS, which snatched up 8 licenses in key areas such as Texas and Detroit. Overall, 104 bidders made it through the entire auction to pick up a grand total of 1,087 licenses, with the biggest winner of all being the good ole US government: the total amount of loot that was bid reached a staggering $13.7 billion, which is basically found money considering that everyone was simply battling over the right to use invisible radio spectrum. If you're at all interested in a more specific run-down of who got what and for how much, hit the Read link to check out the auction home page, where the FCC has thoughtfully posted about a million pages of charts, tables, and graphs laying it all out in excruciatingly boring detail.[Via MocoNews]
US Spectrum Auction -- Preliminary Results
The preliminary results: T-Mobile was the top bidder, offering almost $4.2 billion for 120 licenses. Verizon Wireless agreed to pay $2.8 billion for 13 licenses, and a consortium that includes cable operators Comcast Corp. and Time Warne, along with cellular-phone carrier Sprint Nextel Corp., agreed to pay almost $2.4 billion for 137 spectrum licenses.
Pali Capital has sent some preliminary analysis of the results of the US spectrum auction (which are available at the FCC page here). The auction ended today after 161 rounds and netting $13,700,267,150. Well, they still have to pay up of course, or lose the spectrum.
“T-Mobile and the Cable Group won licenses that covered most of the United States. The Cable group provided the most surprising results by winning most of the 20 MHz B block licenses for $0.45 per MHz POP. Only Cricket, which spread its bids over multiple bands, had a lower price among the leading bidders.”
–Verizon nabbed 20 MHz on the eastern half of the US
–Cingular won regional licenses in the western half of the US as well as some eastern markets.
–Metro PCS won 100 million POPS by winning the West and Northeast regions and added another 15 million by winning Texas and Detroit. Its wins are probably the most notable news as it will likely inject incremental competition into the market.
I suspect there’ll be some detailed analysis coming out about what the various companies plan to do with the additional spectrum, and how it will affect data services.
