AndroidGuys

Sometime within the next few weeks, the world should find out who won the spectrum that went up for bid back in January.  Before the auction started, projections from analysts were coming in around $20B, so it’s no surprise that the total ends up at $19.6B after it’s all said and done. This spectrum is the same being used by television broadcasters through February ‘09.  The switch to digital signal will free up these airwaves, making it appealing to companies looking to use it for internet, music, television, and more.

The biggest chunk of spectrum, the nationwide package of licenses commnly referred to as the “C” block, went for $4.74 billion.  Taking only 10 days for the reserve price of $4.6B to be met, a requirement for the winner to let any legal mobile device run on the network was triggered.  Google was the company behind this requirement as they lobbied the FCC to adopt this rule.  Why would Google want the network to be open?  Because allowing more devices to run online sites and applications means more chances to advertise to you, silly!

The two top guns of AT&T and Verizon are likely to be the companies throwing the most money at the auction as they are ready to start building out the networks for 4G and LTE already.  You hear that T-Mobile?  While you’re still getting ready to pull back the curtain on your 3G, the big boys are fast at work on the next phase.

Source: Infoworld