Intellectual Property Law

Round 2 in 700 MHz Auction Raises Tally to $2.7 Bil.

By Cynthia Brumfield

The much-watched auction of the 700 MHz wireless broadband spectrum is underway and in two days of bidding, the tally now stands at $2.7 billion. (RCR Wireless and Daily Wireless have the best coverage of anybody out there on the auction's progress.) Round One brought in 1,849 bids worth $2.4 billion and Round Two brought 1,122 new bids, raising the tally by 15% to nearly $2.8 billion.

Of particular interest is the spectrum known as the C Block, which has drawn heavy hitters including Google, AT&T and Verizon. That slice of the spectrum will be subject to the widely publicized open access requirements contained in the auction rules, but only if the spectrum fetches $4.6 billion. If it doesn't, then the spectrum will be put out for re-auction without the open access requirements, which are designed to enable consumers to use handsets and applications of their own choosing for services offered over the spectrum. As of yesterday, the C Block bids stood at $1.2 billion.

Even if the $4.6 billion requirement is met, carriers could game the open access requirement to minimize its impact, FCC Commissioners Michael Copps warned earlier this week. The Democratic Commissioner is floating the idea of setting up some kind of "trust but verify" process at the FCC that would monitor whether carriers are meeting only the letter of the requirement but not its spirit.

Full post as published by IP Democracy on January 25, 2008 (boomark / email).