The FCC decision to require anonymous bidding in the 700 MHz auction forced the agency to impose unprecedented controls on information. Even commissioners and their staff have had to sign nondisclosure forms to gain access to material on who is bidding for which licenses. Wireless industry sources fret about potential leaks that could give one bidder an advantage over other auction participants. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said Thursday during a press conference that he couldn’t discuss whether the commission has looked into allegation of collusion before the auction began.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said repeatedly Thursday he has not abandoned hope that a bidder will still step up to win the public safety D-block spectrum. In a critical development for the 700 MHz auction, a bidder Thursday morning exceeded the aggregate reserve price of $4.6 billion for the C-block of massive, regional licenses. That means the FCC will not have to reauction the block and open access requirements like those pushed by Google will apply to the spectrum. The FCC tallied $15.6 billion in provisional winning bids through 21 bidding rounds as of late Thursday.
The 700 MHz auction passed a second important milestone Wednesday as bidding exceeded the FCC reserve price of $1.8 billion for the A-block of 176 12 MHz economic area (EA) licenses, the second smallest geographically offered in the auction. That means there won’t be a reauction of the entire block. Provisional winning bids in the 700 MHz auction totaled $11.6 billion after 16 rounds.
Intelius is dropping a service allowing searches for cellphone numbers using a subscriber’s name (CD Jan 30 p9), a spokeswoman for the company said. The service, “launched as a test product a few months ago,” saw little demand, said the spokeswoman. As of Wednesday, the company website listed the service as available. Intelius will keep offering a reverse directory letting a customer enter a cellphone number to trace a caller’s name and other information. The service “allows consumers to access information about mystery callers, unrecognized numbers, prank callers, and hang-ups for personal safety” and “gives consumers peace of mind about who is behind a number when caller ID falls short,” the spokeswoman said.
FCC inaction on a roaming “home market exclusion” devalues spectrum licenses, former Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth said in a report commissioned by T-Mobile. T-Mobile’s filing came on the sixth day of the 700 MHz auction. Carriers seeking a change in that rule had hoped for agency action before the auction began.
With the outlook increasingly bleak for a minimum required bid to win the 700 MHz D-block license, Commissioner Michael Copps said Tuesday that, no matter what happens, the FCC will have to make certain that public safety has a national, interoperable broadband network. At our deadline, the only bid for the 10 MHz national license was the $472,000 bid made on day one, which is well short of the minimum $1.33 billion. No company has come forward to replace Frontline Wireless, which announced before the auction began that it would not make the down payment required to participate in the auction.
Verizon Wireless Tuesday called on information services company Intelius to stop mining data for a new service providing cellphone numbers and other unlisted and unpublished phone numbers. Steve Zipperstein, Verizon Wireless general counsel, said his company will file suit and take any other steps needed to protect subscribers.
T-Mobile will seek a stay in federal court of new location-accuracy requirements for wireless carriers unless the FCC itself puts the order on hold, T-Mobile said in a filing at the commission. The Rural Cellular Association Monday also asked the FCC to stay the rules, which the agency approved last September (CD Jan 18 p1). The group likewise threatened court action. Sprint Nextel also is expected to ask the agency for a stay.
Bids in the 700 MHz auction stood at $6.4 billion late Monday after eight bidding rounds. A final round for the day was underway at our deadline. The bad news for the FCC is that there were no new bids for the nationwide 10 MHz D-block public safety spectrum since the first round of bidding Thursday. The good news is that bids are running ahead of the pace set by 2006’s advanced wireless service auction, which had only $2.4 billion in provisional winning bids after eight rounds, on the way to $13.8 billion total. Stifel Nicolaus said Monday it holds little hope that any bidder will meet the $1.3 billion reserve price set for the D-block. The FCC would then have to reauction the spectrum, with or without requirements that the spectrum to be used to build a nationwide public safety network. “Although it is still technically possible for someone to bid on the D Block, we believe that if there are no further bids today, it will suggest there probably will not be any parties -- apart from the bidders on the nationwide C Block license -- with enough eligibility to buy the D license at the reserve price, making it increasingly unlikely to be sold in this auction,” Stifel Nicolaus said. Bidding resumed Monday after being halted Friday afternoon without explanation. As a result of the cancelled round Friday, the FCC held four rounds of bidding instead of the expected three on Monday.
The FCC approved AT&T’s purchase of lower band 700 MHz spectrum from Aloha Partners for $2.5 billion late Friday. However, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps voted against it and Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein issued a concurring vote that outlined concerns he had.