News Analysis

700 MHz auction bidders revealed by FCC (and cancelcancel)

It's IT Blogwatch: in which the FCC publishes the list of bidders in its big 700 MHz spectrum auction. Not to mention more thoughtless dialog boxes...

Stephen Lawson reports:

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission yesterday released lists of accepted and incomplete applications for the auction, in which it will sell licenses to frequencies that are set to be vacated by analog TV stations. It has accepted 96 applications and reported 170 as incomplete. The latter needs to be completed by Jan. 4. [more]
We'll always have MG Siegler:
Of the 266 applicants, only 96 were accepted - one of them not surprisingly being Google. What is surprising though is that at least two major cellular companies had their bids sent back as 'incomplete': AT&T and Verizon. Though both will have the opportunity to complete the application and resubmit it, it seems a bit odd. [more]
Mark 'Rizzn' Hopkins:
Another bidder in the 700MHz wireless spectrum auction the FCC is holding soon has been revealed. This wouldn’t be particularly newsworthy if it weren’t for who it is: Microsoft founder Paul Allen. Allen has been known to invest in a number of projects charitably described as “off the beaten path” and generally follows through. [more]
Erick Schonfeld schakes his head:
The list of incomplete applicants ... is filled with major telecom companies who should know how to fill out these applications by now. They include: Alltel Corporation, AT&T Mobility Spectrum, Chevron, Cox Wireless, Frontline Wireless (aka Licenseco), Qualcomm, Verizon Wireless (aka Cellco Partnership). [more]
Mike Masnick is surprised:
Qualcomm is planning to bid -- which could upset some of the US carriers who consider Qualcomm more of a partner than a competitor ... [and] oil giant Chevron is planning to participate. What the company would do with the spectrum should it win (and it certainly has the money to win) is an open question, but there are a few intriguing ideas. [more]
Cynthia Brumfield thinks locally:
another cable operator, Bresnan Communications, is clearly on the list, which is a surprise. Bresnan was founded by industry pioneer Bill Bresnan and serves only 300,000 customers in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming. [more]
Nate Anderson has the answer:
The real action is happening at the local and regional level. One of the FCC's goals with the auction was to increase competition by making it easy for regional providers to get access to small chunks of prime spectrum ... Most of the listed bidders are small outfits with names like West Wisconsin Telecom Cooperative and Washington County Rural Telephone Cooperative. Paul Bunyan Rural Telephone Cooperative is an applicant, too, as is the Red River Rural Telephone Association. [more]
Bryan Gardiner boggles at the sums involved:
The next step for these companies, according to the FCC, will be the submission of upfront payments by 6:00 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 4 -- pushed back from December 28. That means Google will be wiring at least $4.6 billion dollars at some point before January 4 to a government account at Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. [more]
And finally...

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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You too can pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.

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