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First day of FCC auction of C- and D-block licenses in lower 700 ...

First day of FCC auction of C- and D-block licenses in lower 700 MHz band Tues. saw bids totaling $51.7 million, with Aloha Partners at top at $23.6 million after 2 rounds. DataCom Wireless was distant 2nd with $4.5…

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million, followed by MilkyWay Broadband with $3.3 million. Paul Allen-backed Vulcan Spectrum, one of handful of prospective bidders that had upfront payment exceeding $1 million, was 4th with $2.2 million. Vulcan had high bid on single license in Chicago. LIN TV at $1.9 million in high bids. By comparison, first 2 rounds of bidding in NextWave re-auction in 2000, which ultimately raised $16 billion, had brought in nearly $501 million in high bids. Auctions of lower and upper 700 MHz spectrum were scheduled for June 19 until Congress indefinitely delayed all but C- and D-block licenses of lower band, leading that auction to be re-scheduled for Aug. 27. C- and D-block licenses are smaller than other blocks of licenses in lower band and were seen as particularly attractive for smaller, rural carriers. Qualified bidders for reduced pool of licenses in remaining lower band auction had made $64.5 million in upfront payments, down from almost $154 million before Congress had scaled back auction. Meanwhile, FCC Wireless Bureau this week turned down request by Office of Chief Technology Office (OCTO) of Washington, D.C., govt. on lower band auction. OCTO filed petition for reconsideration of lower 700 MHz auction rules, arguing that under public safety auction exemption under Sec. 309(j) of Communications Act, it should be allowed to obtain licenses in band without competing in auction. In order released in June, FCC had turned down OCTO petition. In follow-up waiver request, OCTO had argued that it hadn’t met May 8 short-form filing deadline for lower band auction because it had expected that FCC would respond to its petition for reconsideration before that registration deadline. “OCTO has failed to show why enforcing the short-form filing deadline would frustrate the deadline’s underlying purpose or how grant of the waiver would be in the public interest,” bureau said.