Bidding on key U.S. airwaves stalls at $4.71 billion
632494
Bidding stalled at $4.71 billion on  Thursday for a key piece of wireless airwaves being auctioned  by the U.S. government.
526069
FCC rules governing the upcoming auction of the 700-MHz spectrum include this requirement: You need a minimum of $4.6 billion, and as much as $10 billion, to place a bid.
109666
An effort to create a nationwide wireless network for firefighters, police and other emergency responders has hit a stumbling block as the Federal Communications Commission's auction for airwaves dedicated for public-safety use has attracted paltry interest from bidders.
147615
The head of the Federal  Communications Commission expressed concern on Tuesday that the  credit crunch could hinder bidders in an upcoming government  auction of wireless airwaves.
695349
The Federal Communications Commission took second-round bids totaling $2.78 billion in an auction of airwaves that would let carriers offer faster Internet access on cellphones.
513292
Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile are expected to be the most aggressive bidders for U.S. wireless airwaves in a January auction that analysts say could give them added resources to expand and improve service.
316553
(InfoWorld) - One provider's planned in-flight Wi-Fi and voice services may arrive a bit later than expected, but U.S. business users should keep their eyes open for possible good news, too: competition. AC BidCo LLC won a U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction earlier this year for 3MHz of radio spectrum to be used for in-flight communications services. The company's affiliate, AirCell Inc., said Wednesday its offer of Wi-Fi hotspots and other services on airliners should get off the ground commercially in early 2008. That's later than the forecast it gave in June, when it said commercial service would go live in 2007. AirCell is working to complete the FCC licensing process and expects to get its license, for which it bid US$31.3 million, in the next 30 days, according to a company statement. The company changed its forecast just to give it more breathing room and may still go live in late 2007, said Tom Myers, director of marketing. Despite a brave effort by The Boeing Co.'s Connexion by Boeing unit, which said last month it would shut down after failing to attract enough users, personal in-flight communication has had a bumpy ride. For more than 20 years, Verizon Communications Inc. offered its Airfone service, which uses wired phones in seatbacks, but that expensive service wasn't widely used and last month was discontinued on airlines. In 2004, the FCC gave Verizon a non-renewable five-year license and moved to auction off the 4MHz radio spectrum that had been used for Airfone's air-to-ground links. AC BidCo got 3MHz of the spectrum, while JetBlue Airways Corp. subsidiary LiveTV LLC got 1MHz. The companies expect other North American countries to make similar spectrum changes in the next few years that will allow them to expand across the continent. AirCell plans to set up 802.11b/g access points in planes for Internet access that will look to passengers like DSL (digital subscriber line) broadband, Myers said. They could even make VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) calls if an airline allowed it, though AirCell can shut down that capability at an airline's request. The company will use EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) third-generation cellular technology to link the plane to base stations on the ground. Lower equipment costs and lower weight will allow for a service priced significantly below Connexion, Myers said. AirCell would like to offer cellular data services as well, but those await more regulatory changes, he said. LiveTV currently offers TV, satellite radio and other services on a variety of airlines. It is focused on using its spectrum for low-cost or free services featuring entertainment, on regional airlines, according to Scott Easterling, director of sales and marketing at LiveTV. The company has paid for its license and expects to go live in the fourth quarter of 2007. The narrowness of LiveTV's 1MHz licensed band -- which cost it about $7 million -- wouldn't allow many passengers to simultaneously use a regular Wi-Fi broadband service, so that would probably carry a premium price if offered, Easterling said. But there may be ways for travelers to keep on top of business for free, such as through e-mail, he said. "We can give away a connectivity experience that would be very acceptable to people," Easterling said.
231479
AT&T will participate in the FCC's wireless auction, but hasn't decided whether to bid for the open-access 700 MHz band.
298595
By The Associated Press  In a May 21 story about municipal wireless projects, The Associated Press erroneously reported that EarthLink Inc. suspended new bids. The company said it won't seek as many bids, but isn't completely ruling out new ones.
223919
More than 200 companies qualified to bid in the upcoming auction of public airwaves that could raise as much as $15 billion for the U.S. Treasury. But it's not clear whether any of those companies will fulfill one of the key goals of the auction -- to attract a bidder that would build a wireless...
515654
The FCC auction of 700-MHz spectrum, which started January 24, is one of the biggest sell-offs of radio spectrum in years, and it's expected to raise at least $10 billion. Wired News explains what's at stake with this list of questions and answers.
384641
AT&T Inc. hasn't decided whether it will bid for the highly-desirable 700MHz band because it doesn't know if it can build a profitable business given the open-access rules set for the wireless spectrum by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in July.
616505
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.
199666
The Federal Communications Commissionâs auction of federally owned airwaves is eventually expected to bring the government at least $10 billion.
78370
Investor's Business Daily - It's close but no cigar for Google in the Federal Communications Commission's much-anticipated auction of public airwaves, a process that could enable a new wave of wireless devices and services.
727042
AT&amp;T and Verizon Wireless want to go up against other current mobile operators and some possible future competitors, including Google, in next month&#39;s&#160;auction for 700MHz wireless spectrum&#160;around the U.S.The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday released lists of accepted and incomplete applications for the auction, in which it will sell licenses to frequencies that are set to be vacated by analog TV stations. It has accepted 96 applications and reported 170 as incomplete. The latter need to be completed by Jan. 4.AT&amp;T and Verizon are not surprise entrants but are the country&#39;s biggest mobile operators. If either carrier won a portion of the spectrum that has been designated for use by any device and any service, it would have to open up its network more than any big U.S. operator ever has. Verizon has already unveiled part of a plan to further open its network.They were on the list of incomplete applications, along with smaller mobile operators Alltel and MetroPCS. Cable operator Cox Communications, an archrival of the telecommunications giants, is also preparing an application. And cellular technology giant Qualcomm, which is already building a mobile entertainment network on vacated TV channels, is also gearing up to bid. Would-be bidders with incomplete applications have until Jan. 4 to complete their paperwork.Google earlier this year&#160;offered to participate in the auction&#160;in return for the FCC imposing open-network requirements. The booming Internet company&#39;s involvement could drive up bids all around, helping the government reap its hoped-for $10 billion payday for the spectrum.&#160;Google&#39;s application&#160;has already been accepted, the FCC said Tuesday. So has that of Towerstream, a wireless broadband provider to businesses.One surprise applicant yet to complete its papers is oil giant Chevron.Participation by Chevron in the auction comes &#8220;out of the blue,&#8221; said analyst Jack Gold of J. Gold Associates. However, oil companies and utilities are big wireless users, so he can see why Chevron might be interested.Chevron, like Google, is unlikely to actually build a network, though, he said. &#8220;I can see them potentially winning but then becoming landlords, renting it out,&#8221; he said. For both companies, that decision wouldn&#8217;t be based on the cost of building a network but on the experience required: Neither company has any history of constructing and operating a wireless network, a complicated undertaking.Also Tuesday, the agency extended the Dec. 28 deadline for upfront payments in the auction to Jan. 4 and pushed back a mock auction until Jan. 22. The auction itself is set to begin Jan. 24.Nancy Gohring, in Seattle, contributed to this report.
553963
Bids on the opening day of a much-anticipated auction of public airwaves totaled $2.8 billion Thursday, according to the Federal Communications Commission.