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Well, that didn’t take too long. After months of speculation, the results of the 700 MHZ auction are in. And you know what? They aren’t too pretty. See, the government raked in nearly $20 billion on this deal. The two largest wireless carriers in the nation, Verizon and AT&T, put up $16.3 billion combined. So it looks like all hopes of regional companies expanding and new names hitting the cellular market have just crashed and burned. All this auction did was make the rich richer.

Posted in 700 MHz spectrum on March 21st, 2008
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And so we have finally reached the end of the 700 MHz auction. It was a long, grueling process, with little to speak of after the first few weeks in February. But the bids kept coming in in snail-like fashion, so the auction went on. And on. And on. Until we finally reached the closing point. However, don’t think this is through. If you remember back to high school, there was something called Freytag’s Pyramid, which described dramatic structure. There is the exposition, followed by rising action, then the climax, falling action, and finally denouement, or resolution. Well, we haven’t quite hit the climax yet.

Posted in 700 MHz spectrum on March 19th, 2008
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Okay, so the government has raked in a ton more money than they had anticipated — or at least publicly anticipated — with the 700 MHz auction. They’re up near $20 billion, which has to be a major victory, since publicly they were saying they would be happy with $10 to $12 billion. The C block has also been freed, with the reserve price of $4.6 billion being met. There were rumors of a bidding frenzy for that block, but in the end it turned out to be Verizon and Verizon only, with Google there to bring the bid over the reserve mark. And now we’re left with the public safety aspect of the spectrum, which still hasn’t moved from its first-day bid of $472 million.

Posted in 700 MHz spectrum on February 11th, 2008
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Late last week, after speculation that the reserve might not be met, the 700 MHz spectrum C block hit its reserve price of $4.6 billion. Yes, the auction is still official. But since Friday, the bid has only reached $4.74 billion. There are potentially several weeks remaining to bid — the auction won’t end until all licenses have been finalized. But indicators are that the C block might be all but done at this point.

Posted in 700 MHz spectrum on February 6th, 2008
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Things looked a little hairy headed into Thursday. The coveted C block — the one with the open access provision attached to it — had stalled on Wednesday. It was approaching the $4.6 billion reserve price, but hadn’t quite reached there. In fact, a few were wondering if it would be stuck at that level for quite some time. After all, AT&T and Verizon would love for the spectrum to be re-auctioned with fewer restrictions. But all of that was blown up yesterday, as one of the bidders upped the ante to $4.71 billion. Ladies and gentlemen, mission accomplished.

Posted in 700 MHz spectrum on February 1st, 2008
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While we still won’t know the bidders until after the auction is over, all indications are that the C block of the 700 MHz spectrum — the “open access” block — is nearing its $4.6 billion reserve price. Had it not reached the reserve price, the FCC could have opted to re-hold the auction, possibly with different provisions. Meaning, of course, that they’d auction it off without the open-access regulation. But once it hits $4.6 billion, it’ll be official.

Posted in 700 MHz spectrum on January 30th, 2008
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No, it’s not the $12 billion they’re seeking. Yet. But the FCC has to be marginally pleased after the first round of bidding on the 700 MHz spectrum on Thursday. Wireless carriers and other assorted technology companies dropped bids worth $2.8 billion in the first two rounds. Of course, we don’t know exactly who placed the bids. I’m sure that some sites will come up with lists, but most of them can be considered bogus. Consider it like the Mitchell Report, where false lists of the accused circulated before the official list was announced.

Posted in 700 MHz spectrum on January 25th, 2008
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We’ve been talking about it for months, and its finally here: The fabled 700 MHz spectrum auction. The FCC will be putting 1,099 spectrum licenses up for bids, which will be awarded to a number of the 214 registered applicants. So it’s time to get excited, right? Well, maybe not quite yet. The bidding will go on for quite a while — possibly a month — and we really won’t know who won until 10 days after the auction. Hey, it’ll be more interesting than watching paint dry, at least.

Posted in 700 MHz spectrum on January 24th, 2008
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Surely you’ve heard of Paul Allen. You know, the dude who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates back when they both looked like this. He’s representing his investment company, Vulcan Capital, represented as Vulcan Spectrum LLC. His is just one of 96 current names accepted for bidding. There are 170-something incomplete applications, which has led the FCC to move the deadline to January 4, from December 3. Yeah, there are some interesting applicants on the already-accepted list.

Posted in 700 MHz spectrum on December 19th, 2007
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We learned over the past few days that Leap and MetroPCS will bid in the 700 MHz spectrum auction. This is in addition to what we already knew: Verizon and AT&T would go head-to-head. Google entered the fray last last Friday, though that was pretty much a given. We’ve also seen Sprint declare their abstinence from participation, while Frontline guns for the public safety sector. A few other developments came yesterday regarding Clearwire and Cablevision.

Posted in 700 MHz spectrum on December 7th, 2007
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