As I guessed, the FCC AWS Spectrum Acution continues apace. My two weeks off proving an insufficient time for the wonkiest and most expensive of online multiplayer games — spectrum auctions.
You can track the “action” (as we must call it) here. A quick flip through the current standings yields some interesting patterns so far. The DBS Wireless partnership, Wireless DBS LLC, started with some strong positions on regional licenses. Over time, they have been forced out by Spectrum Co (the Comcast/TW/Sprint group), AWS Wireless (the Salmesi “wild card”) and traditional cell phone cos. Dolan family (Cablevision) took a position in the NYC market (its home base) but also appears to have been knocked out.
A look at the overall stats in round 29 shows that T-Mobile, unsurprisingly, has the lead bid on the most licenses — 129. Spectrum Co comes in nest with 96. After that, there is a significant drop off in the number and nature of licenses held, with traditional cellular companies Cingular and Cricket holding 43 each. Interestingly, AWS is next, with 38. There follows a list of smaller fry with diminishing numbers of licenses in less desirable territories. Of the cable players aside from Comcast/TW, only Cable One (Washington Post) continues to have a presence with 24 licenses.
Unless something dramatic happens, the auction is unlikely to yield a drisuptive player/new competitor (unless one counts Spectrum Co).
More after I unpack and look at the stats.
Stay tuned . . . .
Related Posts:
- Get Ready for the 2022 Season of Spectrum Wars! by Harold March 15, 2022 It isn't the sultry Regency drama of Bridgerton, the action psycho-drama of Moon Knight, or even the, um, whatever the heck Human Resources is. But…
- Why Canada's C-18 Isn't Working Out As Expected. by Harold July 24, 2023 Back at the end of June, Canada passed C-18, aka "The Online News Act," a law designed to make Google and Facebook negotiate with news…
- My Insanely Long Field Guide to the Fox29 Philadelphia (WTFX-TV) License Renewal Challenge. by Harold August 29, 2023 In July, the Media and Democracy Project filed a Petition to Deny the license renewal of Fox29 (WTFX-TV) in Philadelphia. The Petition rests on a…
- S. Korea "Sender Pays" Is a Warning, Not a Model, or Why (Almost) Everyone Keeps Telling the EU This Is a VERY Bad Idea. by Harold October 14, 2022 Economist/NYT opinion writer Paul Krugman coined the term "Zombie idea" to describe an idea that, despite being repeatedly refuted with evidence, keeps coming back. Not…
- No Sohn Means No Broadband Map, and No Broadband Map Means No BEAD Money. by Harold May 24, 2022 I would never have imagined that we could get past Memorial Day without Gigi Sohn's confirmation as the 5th FCC Commissioner/3rd Democrat. But Republicans who…
- AI Policy and the Uncanny Valley Freakout. by Harold June 30, 2023 We have been debating, on and off, about the issues around artificial intelligence and AI governance for some time now. Here at Public Knowledge, we…
Welcome back. We’ll expect a full debriefing.
Which reminds me (stop me if I’ve told this one before. No, nevermind, I’ll tell it anyway).
There’s a guy who comes out of his office building everyday at lunch & sees the same panhandler. Every day he gives him a dime. The guy goes on vacaction. When he comes bacak two weeks later the panhandler tells him, “you owe me a buck forty.”
You can pay in installments if you like.