Most analysts are trying to figure out what exactly Echostar plans to do with the $711 million in spectrum the company acquired in the 700Mhz auction. The spectrum in question came from the "E" block, and is primarily useful for one-way transmissions, meaning obviously that broadband is out. The popular consensus seems to be that the company is thinking about offering some kind of mobile TV service:Echostar isn't commenting. Hopefully that plan goes better than their recent satellite launch. Qualcomm (who nabbed a cool billion in spectrum) is also likely using their winnings to expand mobile TV offerings. With a general lack of interest in mobileTV from U.S. consumers, it's hard to get too excited. The primary thrust of the 700Mhz auction continues to be AT&T and Verizon's domination, and Google's massive dose of free advertising.

As several users have noted to us, it's rather entertaining/ironic that the FCC reallocated the UHF TV band and moved television stations to below 700 MHz, only to have companies like Echostar bid on portions of it for...TV services. Worse, TV services very few people are going to watch.