DBS CALLS IT QUITS AS AWS PRICES SOAR IN LATEST BIDDING ROUNDS

摘要

Despite talk of 搖ntraditional?players dominating the advanced wireless services (AWS) auction, wireless telecom interests have come on strong. Wireless DBS, the deep-pocketed partnership between DirecTV and Echostar, has effectively dropped out of the bidding as the auction has progressed more quickly than many had expected. Bids top more than $8 billion total. The DBS partnership has used all its waivers and stopped bidding. Verizon Wireless (through subsidiary Cellco), Cingular and T-Mobile have emerged as the dominant bidders. SpectrumCo, the joint cable venture with Sprint Nextel, also appears to be in retreat and isn抰 pursuing the major regional licenses. nnAt round 15 late Tues., T-Mobile had the highest bid for 7 of the 18 big regional licenses and was the top bidder for major small licenses in such areas as L.A. and Chicago. The carrier had a $1.1 billion bid for a regional license in the Northeast, the highest for any license. Cellco was the top bidder for 3 of the big regional licenses. Cingular was top bidder for 4 of the regional licenses and appears ready to buttress its already strong spectrum portfolio with smaller licenses across the U.S. Verizon Wireless made a strong challenge in round 14, bidding for 20 MHz of spectrum covering the entire continental U.S. But T-Mobile battled back the next round.