(Associated Press via NewsEdge) High-speed Internet access, streaming video, music downloads and other special new features may soon be in store for mobile phone owners thanks to an unprecedented airwaves auction.
The auction, conducted by the Federal Communications Commission, has attracted 168 interested bidders, each hoping to offer the next generation of wireless services.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the sale will raise between $10 billion and $15 billion for the US Treasury.
Already, it has brought in $4.3 billion from bidders who made payments simply to qualify to participate.
The auction will add badly needed capacity to the maturing cellular telephone market and allow for clearer connections and sharper pictures in addition to a host of new services.
The FCC, in addition to conducting the auction, is responsible for making sure spectrum licensees do not interfere with one another's signals and that they use the airwaves in the public interest.
Companies will be bidding for 1,122 licenses, good for an initial term of 15 years. The licenses can then be renewed every 10 years.
The top qualifier is Wireless DBS LLC, an alliance that includes two competing direct broadcast satellite providers: EchoStar Communications and the DirecTV Group. The bidders paid $972.5 million.
Second was SpectrumCo, a consortium of Comcast, Time Warner, Sprint Nextel, Cox Communications, and Bright House Networks, with $637.7 million.
Third was T-Mobile at $583.5 million, which is expected to be among the most aggressive bidders.
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