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Mar. 19, 2008

The FCC’s auction of the 700 MHz spectrum block has finally closed.

Overall, bidding on the spectrum slowed to a trickle in the last few weeks.

Nevertheless, the auction still raised over $19.48 billion, almost twice the expected $10 to $15 billion that was initially estimated before bidding began almost two months ago.

Although license winners have not yet been announced, some observers are speculating that AT&T and Verizon Wireless will walk away with the largest pieces of the coveted airwaves.

Google has said it planned to bid on one swath, but it is unlikely that the Web giant invested more than the minimum bid to ensure that the open-access provisions were met.

While the spectrum auction raised considerable sums and could increase competition within the wireless space, it fell short of the public safety community’s expectations. A band of airwaves, known as the D Block, was earmarked for the creation of a public safety network, promising a better, unified, national communication network for emergency first responders.

However, it failed to meet the minimum required bid.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin was reportedly delighted with the auction, and what seems to be wireless carriers moving toward greatly opening their networks.

Representative Edward Markey, chairman of the House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet, announced that he plans to hold a hearing about the auction to review results. As part of the hearing Markey plans to discuss possible re-auction plans for the D Block, investigating the minimum bid requirement, the authority of the public safety spectrum trust and other conditions attached to the available license.

Markey said the subcommittee’s D Block inquiry “will be done with an eye toward ensuring that in any overarching plan to fulfill public safety objectives, the private sector can operate wireless networks commercially while simultaneously fulfilling an important role for first responders.”

About the auction overall, Markey called it a success and said it started “the process of opening up the U.S. marketplace for wireless devices and applications which holds much promise for fostering innovation and consumer choice.”

Martin reportedly said that this trend “will be significant” for consumers, as more open platforms leads to innovation “on the edges of the network.” However, the FCC has yet to comment on what it plans to do about the failure of the D Block.

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Source: The FCC.