FCC Auction Over: $19.5 Billion In Bids
Bids For Coveted 700-Megahertz Spectrum Doubled Initial Estimates
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 3/18/2008 12:43:00 PM
Washington – The Federal Communications Commission’s auction of old analog TV spectrum brought in $19.5 billion, nearly double some estimates, FCC chairman Kevin Martin announced Tuesday night.
Martin, in a conference call with reporters, said the agency would identify the winning bidders after the agency had voted to officially close the auction, which began in January.
About one-third of the spectrum auctioned will come with regulations intended to allow consumers to use their own handsets and download applications without interference from network owners.
The effort to auction a piece of the spectrum to help build a wireless broadband network for public safety groups was a failure, forcing the agency to draft a new plan in the weeks and months ahead.
Winning bidders need to pay the U.S. Treasury by June 30. Some of the money will go to fund the Commerce Department’s $1.5 billion program to subsidize digital-to-analog converter boxes.
Spectrum winners gain access to the airwaves after all full-power TV stations shut down their analog signals on Feb. 17, 2009, as required by federal law.
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