Spectrum auction passes estimated take

The FCC’s worries over slow and low bidding are over as the collective players have now ponied up nearly $20 Billion for the slices of thin air int he 700MHz spectrum.

After 32 rounds, the FCC has raised more than $18.8 billion in its 700-MHz auction, well surpassing its own early estimates of attracting between $10-15 billion in offers.

That’s undoubtedly good news for the agency. Since the auction began on Jan. 24, both the FCC and wireless experts have expressed ongoing concerns about meeting those estimates. Once the auction was underway, those worries were compounded by a shaky economic forecast and the possibility of a looming recession.

Interestingly, the fiercest bidding continues to be for a handful of regional licenses, implying that most bidders are incumbent carriers, not new entrants to the wireless space, and that their biggest priority is simply to fill in various gaps in their own coverage.

As of Tuesday, no further offers have appeared for the nationwide C Block license package or the D Block combination commercial-public safety spectrum. The last anonymous bid for the C Block, for $4.71 billion, remains the highest to date and most industry experts believe there are only three companies currently in the running: Google, Verizon and AT&T.
(from Wired)

Perhaps the rules should have required incumbent carriers to forfeit spectrum equal to that they would acquire to make the field more even? Unfortunately, it’s doubtful that the outcome of the auction will best serve the public interest, and it’s certain that none of the money will be spent with a single shred of wisdom.