The FCC today completed the auction of 242 wireless licenses for a whopping $2.2 billion. Verizon Wireless and a partner collectively won 63 licenses after bidding nearly $697.4 million. A big part of the sale were the licenses the FCC received from defunct carrier Nextwave as part of a bankruptcy settlement.
I think the wireless market mostly, some older paging frequences, and those at or around the 800Mhz public safety band. One could check out »www.fcc.gov/auctions they might have further info.
These were all PCS licenses, mostly C-block (a few Fs). NextWave bid crazy-high prices at the C-block auction in 1996 or so, and then defaulted before paying for them, declaring bankruptcy. It's a long, long story but this was part of the settlement. VZW picked up the rest of NextWave's remaining licenses last year in a private deal, I think with some of the money going to the FCC (well, the treasury really).
These were all PCS licenses, mostly C-block (a few Fs). NextWave bid crazy-high prices at the C-block auction in 1996 or so, and then defaulted before paying for them, declaring bankruptcy. It's a long, long story but this was part of the settlement. VZW picked up the rest of NextWave's remaining licenses last year in a private deal, I think with some of the money going to the FCC (well, the treasury really).
FCC: $2.2 billion Spectrum Bonanza
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