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| Wireless auction brings $974m in bids |
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| BY REUTERS |
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| [Washington | Reuters News Service, 27 January 2005] -
Almost $1 billion in bids were made yesterday on the opening day of a US government auction of valuable wireless airwaves, with companies fighting hard for the Los Angeles market.After four rounds of bidding, $974 million had been bid for airwaves that could be used by carriers to offer new services like high-speed Internet access, as well as to improve service quality. Four out of 35 bidders have dropped out of the competition for 242 licences.Some of the licences put up for sale by the US Federal Communications Commission are limited to bids from small entrepreneurs, so larger carriers have formed partnerships or other arrangements to gain access to those airwaves.Royal Street Communications, which has ties to privately owned MetroPCS Communications, was the top bidder for seven licences, offering almost $207.8 million, including $180 million for Los Angeles.Analysts have said they expect Cook Inlet, which is partnered with Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile, to be aggressive in bidding for airwaves because it does not have as much spectrum in key markets as other national carriers."We believe the company is spectrum constrained in a number of markets, particularly when it comes to rolling out 3G [third-generation] networks and services," UBS Investment Research said in a note to investors earlier this month.Cook Inlet was the top bidder for 28 licences offering $180.3 million, not far behind Royal Street Communications. T-Mobile is the number four US carrier.Edge Mobile LLC, which has ties to the largest US wireless carrier Cingular Wireless, was the top bidder for 20 licences bidding almost $120 million. Cingular is a joint venture of BellSouth and SBC Communications.Verizon Wireless, the number two US carrier, was also expected by analysts to be an active bidder since it stayed on the sidelines in the recent wireless industry consolidation.Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, was the top bidder for 15 licences after four rounds, offering $35.2 million.The FCC is selling licences it received back from bankrupt NextWave Telecom as part of a settlement over the company's debt to the government for airwaves.The sale will continue until there are no more bids for any of the licences.
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| Reuters News Service |
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| Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication and redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. |
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