The Federal Communications Commission said it received 266 applications for the 700 MHz auction, with small and rural telephone companies dominating a field that also includes leading mobile-phone operators, Google Inc., EchoStar Satellite L.L.C., and some surprises.
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Nearly two-thirds of the applications were deemed incomplete and must be resubmitted with corrections by the new upfront payment deadline of Jan. 4. The auction, which is predicted to pull in as much as $15 billion for the U.S. Treasury, is set to begin Jan. 24.
AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless, the nation’s largest cellular carriers, plan to compete for licenses, while the other two national carriers, Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc., apparently will sit it out. Leading regional carriers Alltel Corp., Leap Wireless International L.L.C. and MetroPCS Communications Inc. are in the mix. So is CDMA technology king Qualcomm Inc. Another 700 MHz applicant, Silicon Valley-backed startup Frontline Wireless L.L.C., plans to bid on the national commercial/public-safety license.
The cable TV and broadcasting (terrestrial and satellite) sectors are represented as well by Bright House Networks, Cox Communications Inc., Cablevision Systems Corp., EchoStar, Public Broadcasting Service and Catholic Church Brooklyn (as Trans Video Communications Inc.)
Joining Internet search giant Google, which is expected to bid on the open-access 22 megahertz C Block, is Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, who filed as Vulcan Spectrum L.L.C.
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The following applicants have an Initial filing phase status of "Accepted" by the FCC: Adams Telcom, Inc. |
The following applicants have an Initial filing phase status of "Incomplete" by the FCC (althought that doesn’t mean they won’t compete) 585 Consortium |
