Airwaves sale grosses $13.9 billion
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The U.S. sale of airwaves for  advanced wireless services grossed a record $13.9 billion when  it ended on Monday, and spectrum-hungry wireless carrier  T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and a group of cable companies  were the highest bidders.
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RadioShack Corp.  on Tuesday posted a 22 percent rise in its third-quarter profit due to strong wireless sales and cost control, and reaffirmed its goal to grow 2005 earnings by as much 21 percent.
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WASHINGTON/NEW YORK  - Google Inc  said on  Friday it would take part in a major auction of wireless  spectrum airwaves, meeting a minimum required bid of $4.6  billion, if U.S. regulators added a sale condition that Google  said would promote an open wireless market.
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A bid on the largest portion of public wireless airwaves, now being auctioned by the federal government, reached $4.7 billion on Thursday, triggering a provision to allow any device or software to work on that spectrum.
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By Bloomberg News. Cingular Wireless, which is buying AT&amp;T Wireless, said yesterday that third-quarter sales rose 4.9 percent, to $4.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. government has given away between $140 billion and $480 billion worth of radio spectrum to wireless providers and broadcasters since 1993, according to a study released Tuesday. The New America Foundation, a think tank calling for new ways to manage U.S. spectrum, said most of the giveaway has come not through underperforming auctions but through "below the radar" lobbying tactics by spectrum holders. Much of the spectrum giveaway comes through strategies like case-by-case waivers for flexible spectrum use granted by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), poorly defined spectrum boundaries, and spectrum holders polluting neighboring spectrum, said J.H. Snider, author of the study. In many cases, the FCC has automatically renewed spectrum licenses even through spectrum law allows for licensing for "limited periods of time," he added. The U.S. government raised about $40 billion in more than 80 spectrum auctions since 1993, Snider said at a forum in Washington, D.C. But wireless providers and broadcasters, in financial reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, have given that spectrum a value of about $180 billion, he said. The spectrum is likely worth much more than those estimates, he added. Using past auction figures, the value of the spectrum could be more than $520 billion, he said. The U.S. government is losing "mega dollars," said Bob Edgar, a former Democratic congressman and president and CEO of Common Cause. "We've got to generate some reasonable recovery" of the spectrum value, he said. He compared the current auction model to New York City licensing hot dog stands and giving the vendors the authority to build skyscrapers next door. Edgar, also a United Methodist Church minister, said the U.S. government could provide health care to the poor and several other services with the money if it charged the full amount for the value of the spectrum. Gary Bass, executive director of government watchdog group OMB Watch, agreed and called for more spectrum to be opened up to multiple users. "What would be our reaction if we gave away our interstate highway system to General Motors, then General Motors decided what cars were allowed on the highways?" he said. Snider called for a less complicated spectrum policy in the U.S. and a more open process for auctioning and making changes to spectrum allocations. Right now, only a few experts understand spectrum policy, he said. The FCC needs a new way of auctioning spectrum "so the public can value its worth and is motivated to get involved in the process," he said. Participants in the New America forum said it's important to look at FCC spectrum policy now as the agency prepares rules to auction about 60MHz of spectrum in the valuable 700MHz band. That auction is set to happen by early next year. An FCC spokesman didn't immediately respond to a request for a comment on the New America study, but CTIA, a trade group representing wireless carriers, said recent auctions have been successful in raising money for the U.S. government. An advanced wireless services auction that concluded in September raised $13.7 billion for the U.S. government, said Joseph Farren, CTIA's director of public affairs. That auction was "an enormous success" and shows major changes aren't needed, he said. New America has called for open access rules that would require winners of part of the 700MHz spectrum to sell the spectrum at wholesale rates to competitors. Such proposals would decrease the value of the spectrum and limit bids, Farren said. "The most effective and efficient way to action spectrum in the public interest is thorough an open and fair process where all providers are on equal footing," Farren said.
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Science & environment: Company says feedback 'has knocked our socks off' after network attracts 13,000 during trial.
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Bidding stalled on Tuesday in the  closely watched auction of a piece of wireless airwaves that  the U.S. government is selling, according to data released by  the Federal Communications Commission.
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The billions of dollars worth of airwaves being auctioned off next month have drawn a peculiar pool of bidders, including Chevron, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and the world's third richest man.
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The Federal Communications Commission declared the latest and most lucrative auction of the public airwaves closed on Monday, with bids totaling nearly $13.9 billion.
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Bids on the opening day of a much-anticipated auction of public airwaves totaled $2.8 billion Thursday, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
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Aloha Spectrum Holdings sold 12 MHz of its nationwide 700 MHz wireless spectrum to AT&T for $2.5 billion.
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U.S. regulators are set to give Cingular Wireless final approval for its &#36;41 billion purchase of AT&T Wireless Services Inc.  on Monday, on condition that it sells assets including wireless airwaves in more than 16 markets, according to a source close to the deal.
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(InfoWorld) - Wireless carriers planning to offer next-generation wireless services have bid $13.9 billion in a spectrum license auction that ended Monday, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said. The FCC sold 1,087 of 1,122 available licenses to 104 companies in its first auction of so-called advanced wireless service spectrum, often called third-generation or 3G wireless. The licenses can be used to offer several services, including voice, data and video, the FCC said. The bidders with the fiveÂ highest winning bidsÂ were T-Mobile License, Verizon Wireless, SpectrumCo, MetroPCS, and Cingular, the FCC said. The unsold licenses remain held by the FCC and will be made available again in a future auction. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, in a statement, called the auction "the biggest most, successful auction" in FCC history. It was the largest auction of wireless broadband in a single FCC auction, Martin said. "Although we cannot envision our lives without access to the Internet, I believe we are only beginning to imagine the way mobile broadband networks will impact our lives -- changing the business and entertainment possibilities available to consumers," Martin added. The auction made available "raw material" needed for next-generation wireless broadband, said Jeff Kagan, an independent telecom analyst. "The remaining question is, what will these companies do with this spectrum?" he said in an e-mail. "What new services or new competitors will we see using this spectrum? We will have to stay tuned to see what hatches from this auction."
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The U.S. Federal Communications  Commission auction of airwaves for advanced wireless services  was winding down on Thursday with few new bids offered and  spectrum-hungry T-Mobile USA in the lead.
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Aether Systems Inc., a Maryland wireless data company that is selling off its operating units, said yesterday it received a &#36;30 million offer for a division it had already agreed to sell to another buyer for &#36;25 million.
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One day and two rounds into the long-awaited spectrum auction by the Federal Communications Commission, the highest bids total $2.78 billion, according to news reports. The auctioned frequencies could result in a new era for broadband wireless, unlocked handsets, and nationwide emergency communications.