T-Mobile Bids Big in Wireless Auction

The Federal Communications Commission said Monday that it had ended its wireless spectrum auction in the 161st round after the agency received no new bids. The auction had netted the U.S. treasury a record $13.9 billion, close to the $15 million analysts had projected the sale would make.

As expected, T-Mobile USA led all bidders with a total bid of about $4.2 billion for 120 licenses. The licenses covered both regional locations, as well as spectrum in some of the nation's top markets. T-Mobile has far less spectrum than its bigger rivals, and acquiring more was crucial to maintaining its rapid growth.

It's likely that as a result, both coverage, call quality and service features would improve for the operator and others who participated in the auction, analysts said.

T-Mobile did not bid on the most licenses - rather that was a the third place consortium of several companies comprised of cable providers Cox, Comcast and Time Warner, who teamed up with wireless provider Sprint Nextel. The group won 137 licenses with a total bid of $2.4 billion.

The four companies are already working together on a joint venture to converge television and wireless technologies along with Advance/Newhouse Communications. That project was announced in November of last year, and is expected to cost the companies $200 million.

Other companies that placed significant bids for wireless spectrum included Verizon, who was second place in terms of dollar amount with $2.8 billion bid across 13 licenses. Cingular bid on 48 licenses, for a total bid of $1.3 billion.