The FCC auction of the 700mhz band ended officially on Tuesday and the winners were announced today. For those of you not familiar with the auction, the FCC was auctioning the rights to broadcast over the 700 mhz spectrum in different bands A through E. The spectrum is being freed up by the move of broadcast tv from analog to digital.
The most highly sought after band, the C band, was won mostly by Verizon. Verizon layed down a cool $4.7b for the large chunk of the spectrum. Verizon will now have the rights to broadcast in this frequency across the majority of the United States.
So what does this mean? Well, the big V has not completely made its intentions clear. Analysts say due to the range of the frequency, it would be possible to carry a wireless network over long distances that will be able to penetrate walls, much like tv signals can do now. Also, with Verizon’s new dedication to having an open network, there will be endless possibilities for cell phone technology and high speed data.
