Wednesday, January 30, 2008

700 MHz Auction Drama

Saul Hansell of the NY Times Bits Technology Blog offers an insightful take on the current status of the 700 MHz auction - Spectrum Auction Teeters on the Brink of Success - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog. Someone is sitting on a 4.3 billion dollar bid for the nationwide C Block and they need to bid tomorrow or they risk being out of the auction. If the total doesn't hit 4.6 billion by the end of the auction, then the FCC will have to re-auction this block off in the future.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

73 Bids Sail Out

FCC auction #73 for the 700 MHz Spectrum to be vacated by the broadcasters in 2009 opened today. The days two opening rounds of bids netted 2.4 billion of an estimated 10 billion bound for the US Treasury. Notably, there was a 472 million dollar bid on the D Block, which any provider must give over to the government for use as public safety frequency during an emergency. With Frontline Wireless bowing out, many had speculated that this spectrum would go unbid.

The largest bid of the day was over 1 billion for 8 combined areas of the C Block covering all 50 states. Google led a coalition of organizations who lobbied for open device access in this band. The auction could last weeks. Stay tuned for further updates.
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