Media conglomerates are eyeing ways to grab valuable wireless airwaves as another way to deliver profitable high-speed Internet and other services, according to a Reuters report.
The Reuters report said the US Federal Communications Commission on August 9 is scheduled to begin auctioning off hundreds of licenses for advanced wireless services in a sale that analysts have said could raise between $8 billion to $15 billion.
Satellite provider DirecTV Group has joined forces with rival EchoStar Communications and Liberty Media to bid on the sale as did Washington Post's Cable One, the report said.
A venture backed by the No. 3 wireless carrier Sprint Nextel and major cable operators, including Comcast and Time Warner, as well as an entity run by Cablevision Systems also sought to participate in the bidding, the report said.
The Reuters report said the effort comes as companies are battling to offer consumers a package of voice, wireless, high-speed Internet, or broadband, and video services, which often exceed $100 per month and can contribute to much higher average revenue per user and potentially reduce customer losses.
'It's going to be key to bundle, because that's the way consumer devices are going,' Todd Mitchell an analyst at Kaufman Bros. was quoted as saying.
Bidders were quiet about their plans, citing concerns with FCC rules on collusion, but analysts saw the applications as an avenue to getting another pipe into the consumer's home to better compete with telephone companies, which have extensive wireless operations, the report further said.