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The C Block of wireless spectrum long seen as the main prize of the recent FCC spectrum auctions has been awarded to Verizon Wireless. Verizon captured the C Block spectrum at a cost of $4.74 billion. Other big winners included AT&T Wireless, MetroPCS, and Qualcomm.
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The C Block spectrum which allows for open access on part of its network had drawn interest from Google early on. The win will allow Verizon wireless to extend their reach, while offering new open access capabilities. The C Block spectrum also blankets most of the country, by far exceeding the reach of the other spectrum blocks.
AT&T was also considered a big winner, taking 227 regional licenses in the B block of wireless spectrum. The B Block spectrum includes some large metropolitan networks including Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Houston, NYC, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
Smaller regional network providers MetroPC also won a large amount of the A Block spectrum which covers a large amount of the Boston region.
Other winners included Qualcomm with the E block spectrum of Los Angeles, Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.
In a turn of events, early favorite Google did not manage to win any of the currently auctioned licenses.
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