Wireless spectrum auction rakes in $19 billion
p2pnet news | WiFi:- Wireless companies bid more than $19 billion for the rights to radio spectrum licenses with the Federal Communications Commission expected to publish a list of the winning companies in the near future.
AT&T, Verizon and Google are among companies willing to pay big bucks to own a licence.
“The spectrum licenses are being surrendered to the government by broadcasters as they complete their conversion to digital television by early next year,” says the New York Times, going on:
“The licenses are coveted because they will provide the winners with access to some of the best remaining spectrum – enabling them to send signals farther from a cell tower with far less power, through dense walls in cities and over wider territories in rural areas that are now underserved.”
Google wasn’t expected to post a winning bid, But it’s already achieved an important victory, “by influencing the auction rules,” says the story, adding:
“The commission forced the major telephone companies to open their wireless networks to a broader array of telephone equipment and Internet applications. It remains to be seen whether a variety of technical and regulatory issues can be resolved to make the promise of more open networks a reality.”
[NOTE - p2pnet is running a special reader's survey. It only takes 20-30 seconds and it'd be a huge help if you'd fill it in. Please click here. Cheers! And thanks ... Jon]
Also See:
New York Times – Wireless Spectrum Auction Raises $19 Billion , March 19, 2008
Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It’s really easy!
Subscribe to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php
Net access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for details. Download here.
