Official 700MHz Bidder List

j.sanchez1 writes "Wired has the scoop on the official bidder list for the 700MHz auction slated for January 24, 2008. Here are PDFs of the lists of accepted applications (96 names) and incomplete applications (170). Along with AT&T and Verizon, Google and Paul Allen's Vulcan Spectrum are in on the bidding."

Comments

like to wait and see....

[mraudigy]

The auction of the 700 Mhz band is quite interesting.... it will be interesting to see who wins the bid and what it will do for the country's infrastructure. At&t is one of the many that still has an incomplete application.... typical.

Nice list

[techpawn]

A who's who of multibillion dollar companies. What happened to the government and the parts there of working in the peoples interest? Unless you have a few billion to spend don't even think about it. The peoples airwaves are sold to the highest bidder, literally, and all I can think of the FCC doing is censoring and working in corporate interests (like consolidation of radio companies and maybe the same with TV/Newspapers).

Re:Nice list

[dada21]

Multibillion dollar companies owned by... you and I, or anyone with a share.

The problem is not the multibillion dollar companies, the problem is the FCC. The FCC creates the regulations, and laws, and restrictions, and mandates, that force you and I and a million others from tossing in our own $1500 each and competing. We'd need to hire lawyers who probably worked for the FCC and wrote the rules. We'd need to get approvals from a slow and red-tape-ladened administration. We'd need to prove who we are and what our intentions are.

That's the problem. You think it's these huge megacorps that cause these issues? Well, they sure lobby for them. But if the Federal Executive branch actually followed the Rule of Law (i.e., the Constitution), the FCC would be probably a teeny tiny organization that just made sure no one was perverting the airwaves with massive noise outputs from dirty electronics.

WiFi is relative proof that you can go relatively unregulated in spectrum bandwidth and have things work just fine. Yes, yes, some people in the middle of Manhattan complain about WiFi performance, but my experience at my old office in downtown Chicago showed that things worked just fine -- all the time.

We don't need the FCC, we need more individuals getting together, pitching in a few grand, hiring managers, and competing with the old powerful regimes. Unfortunately, it isn't available. We can't do it. We can't compete. The market doesn't work efficiently when there are barriers to entering the market, and the ONLY barrier is government regulation. Raising $1billion is easy; the machete you need to cut through red tape is nearly non-existent.

Re:Nice list

[Erwos]

So, let me get this straight: your office WiFi AP works OK, so it follows that all spectrum should remain unlicensed?

Yeah, that's not quite the most compelling argument I've heard about this issue. Certainly not the most informed, either.

Re:Nice list

[jcgf]

Totally, as a licensed ham, I shudder when I hear some of the things slashdotters say about the RF spectrum. The common theme is that it should be totally free and unregulated, yet they don't understand that spectrum ain't software so it's not like everyone can get a copy.

Re:Nice list

[dada21]

Yeah, that's not quite the most compelling argument I've heard about this issue. Certainly not the most informed, either.

For many years, the idea of a truly software-based, frequency-hopping radio was the idea of dreams and science fiction. We have them today. They work well, but are still limited in frequencies they can utilize. Power-sources have been the biggest limiting factor for opening up spectrum for unregulated use, but that too is quickly being overcome by technological discoveries (see the nano-wire battery article from yesterday).

Regulated spectrum may have been important when radio transmissions were inefficient, dirty, and even dangerous. We've overcome those issues, and now have the technology to utilize wireless transmissions that could be best navigated and selected based on distance to the other transceiving device, available power for transceiving, speed and latency requirements, and other traffic detected. Because power is not limitless, the idea that one massive power source would likely overpower everything in the area is only based on the idea that someone would or even could transmit garbage over every frequency at high power levels. Yes, I know there are technological marvels that COULD do this, and that's why I will allow for the idea that the FCC may exist only to penalize users of such dirty-transmission devices. Personally, I feel that the market would correct for these power-wasting freaks, but I'll at least accept a small role for the FCC to prevent dirty-transmissions.

With frequency-hopping, and software-based radios, we'd reach a new era of wireless. We're WASTING gigahertz of spectrum on old media -- TV, radio, even cell phone and cordless phone frequencies that could be better used to combine everything into a WiFi-like system. The days of forced media schedules are slowly ending, with more and more people grabbing TV shows a la carte, via bittorrent or PVR-systems. Instead of flooding the airwaves with the gigahertz of garbage no one is watching, de-regulate that bandwidth and allow more wireless providers to send people what they want, when they want it.

Those who demand faster bandwidth and lower latency may spend the money for the extra power they'll need to acquire the spectrum they need in their area, for their purposes. Yet power is the BIGGEST cost of wireless transmissions, and I can guarantee that anyone who wants to hog a wide swath of spectrum will find themselves with an unbelievable electric bill after one month. Yet even with someone locally occupying a certain amount of frequencies, there is still a huge amount of bandwidth available all over the entire radio spectrum. A move to digital, on demand IP-based transceiving makes more sense. We're moved beyond the need for fixed-frequencies, except for the old media who needs to control, and regulate, competition out of existence.

They know their time has come. The need to keep cell phones on the same basic frequency, TV on the same basic frequency, and radio on the same basic frequency has been replaced, and proven so, by the newer technologies out there (Satellite, XM, WiFi, even 700Mhz cordless phones). Those days are over, but we're too engaged with the old system to realize it.

The best thing the FCC could do is to just deregulate the 700Mhz-900Mhz frequencies entirely, and let the market provide services. Let's see what would happen. I bet amazing things would come into the market quickly. Then start deregulating more frequencies, until the FCC shrinks to a minor enforcer of clean transceiving.

Re:Nice list

[kfort]

As a licensed ham for half my life, I couldn't disagree with you more. The RF spectrum is the property of the people, and the FCC exists to regulate it in the interest of the public good. In the past it was a problem because modes of operation like AM, SSB (single side band), FM are prone to interference either malicious or unintentional.

We have the technology now to fight this problem. The only thing we lack is the innovation. The technology of the future would be based on homebrew inventions that amateur radio operators have pioneered over the years. This includes directional beam high gain antennas, digital packet modes of transmission, spread spectrum technology, public key encryption, and DSP (digital signal processing microchips).

Let us not forget that every radio wave is fundamentally just light. Different frequencies are simply different colors. It is philosophically absurd to regulate colors (although this is probably done too through intellectual property restrictions such as trademark and copyrights on shades of paint).

We have the technology. Almost all of it was created by hams. It is time to free the airwaves and give them back to the rightful owners, the people. This will usher in a new era of connectivity and communication that we can only begin to imagine.

Re:Nice list

[The Great Pretender]

Actually, while light can be used to define the entire electro-magnetic sub-section, colors are just a sub-section of the electromegnetic spectrum referred to as 'colors' (normally 400-700 nm, but one could argue slightly outside the visible). Radio waves are not colors they are in fact a sub-section of the electromagnetic spectrum referred to as as 'radio waves'.

Re:Nice list

[faedle]

WiFi is relative proof that you can go relatively unregulated in spectrum bandwidth and have things work just fine. Yes, yes, some people in the middle of Manhattan complain about WiFi performance, but my experience at my old office in downtown Chicago showed that things worked just fine -- all the time.

Actually, WiFi is a case-in-point of why the existing regulatory scheme is broken, and how completely "unregulated bandwidth" would be a disaster for our communications infrastructure.

Case study: Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square, a public square commonly referred to as "Portland's living room," smack dab in the middle of Portland's busy, and dense, downtown. There are no fewer than six "free" hotspots all trying to provide service, and countless WEP/WPA-encrypted ones from neighboring offices, plus the "city WiFi" from MetroFi. Add to this mess a large quantity of Bluetooth noise from a Verizon Wireless store that has all the Bluetooth crap turned on every freaking phone, a 2.4GHz wireless microphone system used by the City for performances in the square, and you've got a nice average noise floor somewhere around -55dBm.

None of the WiFi works more than 25 feet from the access points. The wireless microphone system often breaks. If you're trying to use your Bluetooth headset on your phone, you have to be within a foot for it to work.

So, what happens? One of the offices goes and buys an amplifier and a 15 dB antenna from Fry's to see if they can get their WiFi to work in their office. This increases the noise floor and now makes it so that anybody on Channel 1 who's near that office gets elbowed out of the way by the sloppy amplifier.

"Unregulated airwaves" are theoretically a great idea, but fail in actual practice because the people making the decisions are not technologically literate.

If, on the other hand, all the devices in the 2.4GHz band were using a cooperative radio system, where everybody talked to everybody else and determined frequencies and power levels based upon some kind of algorithm, there's no reason why it couldn't work. Add to that some liberal frequency expansion, and you could be on to something.

However, just "deregulating" the whole thing without putting technological limitations on the system is a disaster waiting to happen. Deregulated radio works great in theory, until T-Mobile decides to deliberately interfere with the free hotspot because it's "competition" for their paid service.. or Starbucks decides to deliberately interfere with Seattle's Best Coffee's hotspot for the same reason.

Xpressweb Internet Services?

[Demiansmark]

I really am curious as to how much a company like Xpress Web could possibly dedicate to this, from the looks of the web site I'm assuming the proprietor operates from the dumpster behind the quik e mart.

Re:Why do the rest even bother?

[lb746]

It's not that they are bidding one 1 thing. This bidding/auction includes multiple licenses and different chunks of spectrum's. The 700mhz one we keep discussing is just the biggest and most coveted item at the auction. There's still going to be that small company going home with the autographed T-Shirt signed by the FCC staff.

lynxcache mirror

[DoctorEternal]

http://lynxcache.com/FCC_Releases_700_MHz_Auction_Bidder_List_Epicenter_from_Wired_com.html

Re:Why do the rest even bother?

[Rob T Firefly]

Ego trips, publicity stunts, and a desire to get one's name in the history books with the big boys. Big Roy's Internet Service and Gerbil Grooming may not have an honest chance at actually winning an auction, but it'll get him into the Google rankings alongside the likes of AT&T for a bit.

Re:Why do the rest even bother?

[morgan_greywolf]

There's some small guys on that list that seem to bid on everything the FCC puts up for auction. For example, there's a retired mail carrier named Vincent D. McBride (who operates under the name McBride Spectrum Partners, LLC) who has bid at just about every FCC auction since sometime around 1996-1997. Others might be doing it for name recognition (just having your name on the bidding list gets you exposure) and others still might be doing it to gather evidence to prove that the FCC does, in fact, favor the big boys and might even be giving them a competitive advantage in the auctions (besides their own cash reserves).

The Coming Cellphone Revolution?

[phobos13013]

Ok, Im not a spectrum expert here (IANASE?), so I dont know all the possible and impossible uses of the band are. But MY personal belief is that if Google wins this thing, it will mean a whole new future of cell and multimedia technology. With Android on the horizon, the possibility for video technology to be broadcast on this spectrum, and a "do no evil" corporation behind its implementation we as consumers could see a major change in how we use and most importantly PAY for cell phones.

I could VERY easily see Google offering about five models of cellphones, all with user-modifiable environments with broadband TV access, internet, and of course cell (or wifi or some such combo). A recent interview with the CEO of HTC suggests there are some big plans with Android/Google/HTC. This would all be possible with a low unlimited usage fee (say $50 unlimited cell access, $75 unlimited TV/internet, etc.) Maybe you will see some sort of music site popup over this or integrate it with Google's music info site. This will of course be highly marketed and everyone will flock to it. Maybe not everyone will get to use it and it will become a tester in some markets sort of like gmail beta when it was first introduced. This sort of thing is usually looked at skeptically (think when 3G first rolled out after many delays, all the complaints and grumbles) but by Google will be looked at as the hippest thing since white bread!

This of course over time will force the other cell providers to change their scrupulous business practices or be satisfied with greatly reduced user-base. Which of course is more incentive for these other companies to get their hands on it over Google.

It seems to be infrastructure and other base technology is already in place for it, so immediate rollout could happen, of course in that interim introductory period additional infrastructure can be added to beef up the spectrums inevitably high usage!

This is all of course simple musing, but looking at Google's past and their current state coupled with their desire for this spectrum leads me to believe there is a plan for it and its big. I look forward to this possibility... hope it comes true. Now if anyone can punch holes in any of this please do so now.

Re:The Coming Cellphone Revolution?

[isa-kuruption]

Yes, a cellphone revolution... in advertising....

Google will track wherever you go via GPS. Google can then sell advertising to companies that you walk by. The more people that walk by a business, the more they can charge for advertising. Then, when you walk within 500 feet of that business, they'll send you some text message telling you of said business's latest deals. You clear the message, and in another 300' you get another text message from another business with their lunch specials.

Then, of course, google will have you use your "google logon" with your cellphone, too. So when you go do Internet searches on your PC, it will cater the results to where you go and where you've been. "Hey, I noticed you're looking for anal plugs... there was a good shop with a buy one get one on your route to work".

Of course, google will also use that GPS data to notify businesses in your local area what you're searching for and what you buy from their competitors.

Then Google founders will use all that extra cash to buy an EVEN BIGGER private jet to go play around the world and burn more fuel while hypocritically telling us that we need to reduce our fuel consumption to save the environment.

UHF TV. What about VHF?

[iknownuttin]

Very broadly, this spectrum is divided into two bands -- the lower and upper 700 MHz. The lower band is 48 MHz wide, and the upper band is 60 MHz wide. Of the upper 60 MHz, 24 MHz is being reserved for public safety, according the to FCC. The 747- to 792-MHz portion of the spectrum, which includes a highly coveted swath known as the "C Block," is now used for commercial UHF television. But federal law now mandates that broadcasters convert to digital TV signals by 2009, so they're handing this particular chunk of spectrum back to the FCC (in return for new UHF spectrum).

So, I guess VHF TV frequencies will be auctioned off soon too? Or is that going to be completely used by radio services (Marine, some aviation and some consumer goods.)?

Re:The only reason...

[Mishra100]

I could only come up with 2 reasons why the smaller companies would even try to compete. Cheap advertisement. They only have to fill our paperwork and spend a little bit of money and time. Then they are put on a list and talked about in articles and regular posts (like us) which gives them really cheap advertisement. It could also be that they want to give their investors the feeling that they are trying to do more with their company by competing to buy the air waves.

I'm rich!

[Kinthelt]

Who would have thought my old Athlon 700 would prove to be so valuable?

Re:Paul Allen?

[infonography]

So I wonder if Paul Allen is bidding as a proxy to Microsoft...it's not like Bill Gates and Paul Allen are mortal enemies. Unlikely as a proxy, Paul Allen has his own agenda and telecoms schemes. I would not call his motives purely altruistic however he does favor the offbeat ideas and makes a pretty good go of them when he does.

Background information

[wizards_eye]

Some information on this band can be found here:
http://gigaom.com/2007/03/14/700mhz-explained/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/700_Mhz_wireless_spectrum_auction
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070815-700mhz-auction-whats-really-up-for-grabs-and-why-it-wont-be-monopolized.html

For instance the GSM 750 band (has been in the GSM standards for at least 7 years) is a part of the spectrum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_frequency_bands

No revenue range for Google?

[Hanners1979]

I notice there's no revenue range or bidding credit listed for Google in the PDF document - Did they not have room for all those zeroes?

1999 UK all over again?

[Colourspace]

Is it only me or does anyone else remember back in 1999 when the 3G (which I wouldn't say has mass market acceptance even now) licenses went up for bidding in the UK? As I remember it came to 20 billion pounds (the irony is I am in the UK using a US PC, so no pound sign for me on the keyboard) in the end, which is a HELL of a lot of money for a piece of paper saying you may broadcast on these frequencies. I don't think it would work out well for anyone if this turned out to follow the same path.

The Incomplete Application List

[Isaac-Lew]

Why do AT&T & Verizon Wireless have incomplete applications? Is it due to some type of legal issue (or issues), or did they screw up their paperwork?

Paul Allen was a Ricochet/Metricom investor

[kriston]

In case we might have all forgotten, Paul Allen was one of the founding investors in Ricochet/Metricom.

ooops the list formattted

[sobolwolf]

0002805596 Adams Telcom, Inc. 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0014061097 Aeronet Wireless Broadband Corp. 0 - 15,000,000
0000021188 AlasConnect, Inc.
0016161788 Aristotle Inc. 0 - 15,000,000
0016927360 AWS Spectrum, LLC 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0017118837 Bayou Internet, Inc.
0002477636 BEK Communications Cooperative 0 - 15,000,000
0003764727 Bend Cable Communications, LLC
0003766201 Blanca Telephone Company 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0017147406 Blue Sky Cell, LLC 0 - 15,000,000
0010698868 Bluegrass Wireless LLC
0017194473 Bresnan Communications, Inc.
0017181199 Broadband Wireless Unlimited, LLC 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0008394215 Budget Phone
0015024631 Cavalier Wireless, LLC 0 - 15,000,000
0001649508 Central Texas Telephone Investments, LP
0002532497 Chariton Valley Communication Corporation, Inc. 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0003707775 Chester Telephone Company 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0017191172 Clearcom, Inc.
0017146051 COLI INc 0 - 15,000,000
0001711837 Command Connect, LLC
0017171950 Cricket Licensee 2007, LLC
0001700616 Cross Telephone Company, LLC
CTC Telcom, Inc.
0017166422 Data-Max Wireless LLC 0 - 15,000,000
0017118084 Delmarva Broadband LLC 0 - 15,000,000
0001858760 Ellijay Telephone Company
0001754738 Farmers Telecommunications Cooperative, Inc. 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0004338489 Farmers Telephone Company, Inc.
0014955017 Fidelity Communications Company
0002480085 Forum Communications Company
0004600268 FTC Management Group, Inc.
0002388262 Glenwood Telephone Membership, Corporation 0 - 15,000,000
0002333839 Golden Belt Telephone Association, Inc. 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0017171182 Google Airwaves Inc.
0017184268 Grain Spectrum LLC 0 - 15,000,000
0017176173 Great American Broadband, Inc. 0 - 15,000,000
0016191827 GreenFly LLC 0 - 15,000,000
0002331601 H & B Communications, Inc. 0 - 15,000,000
0001886944 Horry Telephone Cooperative, Inc.
0009639923 Inland Cellular Telephone Company
0001523125 IT&E Overseas, Inc. 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0017169087 KeyOn Spectrum Holdings, LLC 0 - 15,000,000
0017164583 Kinex Networking Solutions, Inc. 0 - 15,000,000
0002212314 Kingdom Telephone Company 0 - 15,000,000
0003548443 Kurian, Thomas K 0 - 15,000,000
0004334702 Lackawaxen Long Distance Company, Inc.
0017166240 Landover PCS Holdings, LLC 0 - 15,000,000
0002576791 MAC Wireless, LLC
0015031065 Manti Telephone Company 0 - 15,000,000
0004344776 Medicine Park Telephone Company, Inc. 0 - 15,000,000
0014993794 Midwest AWS Limited Partnership 0 - 15,000,000
0017195561 Miller, David 0 - 15,000,000
0011146479 Mt. Vernnon.Net Inc. 0 - 15,000,000
0014999585 MTN3B Consortium 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0002886984 Mulberry Cooperative Telephone Company, Inc 0 - 15,000,000
0008209629 N.E. Colorado Wireless Technologies, Inc.
0012841458 Neptuno Media 0 - 15,000,000
0004337044 Northeast Missouri Rural Telephone Company 0 - 15,000,000
0002388882 Northeast Nebraska Telephone Company 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0014990436 Northern Iowa Communications Partners, LLC 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0001704246 Panhandle Telecommunication Systems, Inc.
0002644953 Paul Bunyan Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc.
0017036799 PBP Bidco LLC
0005746508 PCS Partners, L.P. 0 - 15,000,000
0001887140 Piedmont Rural Telephone Cooperative, Inc. 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0003740040 Polar Communications Mutual Aid Corporation
0007024607 Public Service Wireless Services, Inc.
0003742384 Red River Rural Telephone Association, Inc.
0001886464 Sandhill Communications, LLC 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0001551241 Siskiyou Telephone Company 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0017182528 Small Ventures USA, L.P. 0 - 15,000,000
0017183237 Spectrum Acquisitions, Inc. 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0001960962 Star Telephone Membership Corporation 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0002901817 Swayzee Telephone Co. Inc. 0 - 15,000,000
0003744406 TCT West, Inc. 15,000,000 - 40,000,000
0017057787 Terra World Commu

Re:Why do the rest even bother?

[suggsjc]

Gerbil Grooming owner (...I've got a great idea...)

Next day:
Gerbil Grooming owner: Hello, FCC. What are the requirements for bidding in the wireless auction?
FCC: Fill out this paperwork...and the minimum bid is $4.6B...
Gerbil Grooming owner: Great, send over that paperwork!

Two weeks later:
FCC: We are going to start the bidding at $4.6B.
Gerbil Grooming owner: (raises hand and snickers).
FCC: Ok, do I hear 4.8B?
Google: (raises hand and snickers).
FCC: Do I hear $5B?
Gerbil Grooming owner: (raises hand and laughs out loud)
FCC: Do I hear $5.5B?
(silence)
FCC: Going once, twice, sold to Gerbil Grooming for $5B!
Gerbil Grooming owner: (laughing slowly fades as reality sets in...then you hear him whisper under his breath) oh shit

Next day:
Gerbil Grooming owner: Yes, I'd like to take out a loan
Banker: Sure, how much?
Gerbil Grooming owner: Lets see (pulls out calculator) about $4.98B
Banker: (begins laughing)

30 minutes later:
Banker: (continuing laughing, wipes tear from eye)
Banker: No, seriously. How much