WASHINGTON—It took nearly a month but the Federal Communications Commission’s auction of 800 MHz spectrum is over after 144 rounds. Winning bids totaled $38.3 million for the two licenses to offer air-to-ground services.
Early on, AC BidCo L.L.C., an affiliate of AirCell Inc., won the 3-megahertz license with a bid of $31.3 million, but it took JetBlue’s LiveTV L.L.C. much longer to win the 1-megahertz license. LiveTV’s final bid was $7 million for the license, but the company must wait for Verizon Airfone Inc. to vacate the spectrum before LiveTV can use it. Verizon Airfone must open the spectrum by 2010.
Due to auction rules, none of the qualified bidders can discuss plans for the spectrum, but company backgrounds may provide some clues. AirCell already offers air-to-ground voice services for private aircraft. Last year, AirCell told the FCC it would offer a voice and data service with the spectrum, although the company has not released pricing information.
AirCell will get access to its spectrum within two years of the grant of its license, said the FCC.
While JetBlue has not said what it will do with the 1-megahertz license, the airline offers DirecTV service on its flights and speculation is that it would use the license for some type of complementary service.
