CenturyTel, a Louisiana based tier 2 telecom carrier, has announced their intentions for the 69 700 MHz spectrum licenses they obtained in the recent FCC auction. CenturyTel says the 700 MHz spectrum provides them the "opportunity to deliver wireless voice and broadband data to a significant percentage of our current customer base, making CenturyTel the only on-net provider of both fixed and wireless broadband in many of our markets." Apparently, we can count a new wireless competitor in much of CenturyTel's current footprint. Their 700 MHz footprint provides wireless overlap to approximately 53% of their local exchange areas. "This spectrum is well suited for serving less densely populated markets and should enable us to leverage our existing network assets to offer our customers a compelling range of wireless and fixed-line voice and broadband products," said Glen F. Post, III, CenturyTel chairman and CEO.

AT&T gave a glimpse into their 4G strategy, announcing they will use their considerable 700 MHz spectrum holdings for forthcoming long term evolution (LTE) technology. It’s the clearest direction AT&T has given to date about their long term 4G plans. AT&T says its 700 MHz spectrum will cover 100 percent of the top 200 markets and 87 percent of the U.S. population, “enabling the company to better compete in a vibrant and dynamic marketplace.” RCR Wireless is reporting that AT&T will also supplement its 700 MHz spectrum with AWS spectrum they acquired in a 2006 FCC auction.

In other 4G news, Sprint announced a delay in their 4G WiMAX plans. Xohm, Sprint’s identified WiMAX brand, will not launch in April as had been previously discussed. Sprint executives continue to publicly support Xohm, and promise it will soon be a reality. Verizon Wireless is expected to announce their 700 MHz plans soon. They have previously committed to LTE, but they will offer more details on their 700 MHz plans on April 4th. All of this talk of LTE and 4G by AT&T and Verizon should put pressure on their cable MSO competitors to outline their 4G wireless strategy. Will they go it alone with their own AWS spectrum, or will the rumors of a WiMAX joint venture with Sprint come true. With LTE research and development efforts providing wireless 100 Mbps speeds, one would have to conclude that the cable industry can’t afford to sit 4G out, as they have with the first three generations of wireless.

Google’s influence in wireless continues, with its focus shifting away from the 700 MHz auction to the so called wireless “white space” initiative. Wireless white space is the “empty spaces” in television spectrum used by channels 2 through 51. After the 2009 digital TV transition, this spectrum will be freed up and Google would like it to be used as unlicensed spectrum for broadband wireless. Google claims that gigabit per second speeds could be achieved wirelessly, and they would like to be very active participants in making that happen. They view white space wireless as "Wi-Fi 2.0," allowing a variety of wireless devices to access a ubiquitous broadband wireless network. In an FCC ex-parte letter, Google even suggests funding the research and development and technical support costs for bringing such a solution to market.

Google has already demonstrated their influence in wireless policy. They were very active, and may hold much of the responsibility, for ensuring the recently auctioned 700 MHz C-block spectrum had an “open access” provision tied to it. They did not win the spectrum (and probably had no intention of doing so), but their influence into the rulemaking and commitment to meeting the FCC’s minimum bid requirement ensured open access was mandated for that portion of the spectrum. They are now working to influence the white space initiative, and the FCC has no choice but to listen, and probably act. There are considerable issues to be worked out including, potential interference and equipment development issues, before white space is a reality. There are heavyweight opponents to white space wireless as well, including the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), and even the NFL, who fear it would interfere with their game referee’s wireless mic systems. Google’s desire is to see as much open broadband wireless connectivity as possible, so their forthcoming Android platform for wireless devices can be widely deployed. They are pushing for open access and unlicensed requirements so Android can interact with wireless networks without being tied to a specific wireless carrier. If their foray into the 700 MHz debate is any indication, Google may see their desires come true with the white space initiative. The competitive implications for these moves are wide and deep, and could significantly alter the wireless landscape as we know it.

The FCC released results from the 700 MHZ auction and it looks like the pre-release consensus was right. Verizon Wireless and AT&T were the big winners, with Verizon gaining a national 700 MHz footprint. They both bid a combined $16.3 billion, with AT&T bidding $6.64 billion for 227 B-block licenses and Verizon Wireless bidding $9.63 billion for the large C-block regional licenses. An additional 99 bidders won 754 licenses, including familiar names like Echostar (DISH Networks) and Cox. The outcome of the auction did not produce a viable national wireless competitor, as many had hoped, but there are some interesting twists.

Echostar bid $711 million for 168 E-block licenses, which covers a large portion of the U.S. Cox bid close to $305 million for 22 licenses in the A and B blocks. Their licenses will include areas of California, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma. These two winners will probably be the most interesting to watch from a competitive angle. Echostar now has a conceivable way to offer broadband, although speculation is that they have their eyes on mobile video, which the E-block spectrum is much better suited for. Among smaller service providers, CenturyTel won 69 B-block licenses for $149 million, raising the potential for CenturyTel to launch its own wireless service. Several tier 3 carriers won licenses including Horry Telephone of South Carolina, Pioneer Telephone in Oklahoma, and PVT Networks in New Mexico. While the auction failed to bring a competitor to the national stage, and may have fallen somewhat short from an overall competitive standpoint, it did empower several entrants into the wireless space. Time will tell whether those entrants can actually have a competitive impact in their respective territories, but it will be interesting to observe over the coming months and years.

The 700 MHz auction ended on Tuesday after 30+ days, 261 rounds, and $19.5 billion pledged. The speculation now shifts to who won the spectrum, and what will they do with it. Industry consensus is that the auction did not produce a new nationwide competitior for wireless service, like say a Google or someone else. The usual suspects of AT&T and/or Verizon are the likely winners of the coveted C block spectrum, which conceivably could have introduced a new national player in the wireless arena. There is potential for competitors at the local level of several markets through spectrum obtained in the B blocks. As time unfolds, and the FCC reveals the results, we’ll be in a much better position to understand the competitive implications of this record breaking (in terms of dollars pledged) spectrum auction. Stay tuned.

The 700 MHz auction has slowed considerably, leading some to believe this may be the last week of the auction. At the conclusion of round 105, there were 1,090 provisional winning bids among 1,089 provisional winning bidders, for a total of $19,524,595,900 billion bid. Action on the nationwide C block has long since ended, and it appears the regional bidding for the “nationwide” C block will prevail. The C block spectrum can be won in one of two ways, either as a single nationwide license, or broken into 8 “regional” licenses that cover the entire nation. Whichever approach receives the most money, one nationwide bid, or the collective eight regional bids will win. The D block, which has the mandated public safety provision, has only received one bid of $472 million, which is well below the FCC reserve price of $1.3 billion. It will probably be reauctioned at a later date. The remaining activity is centered in the E and B blocks.

The WiMAX Forum announced a technology roadmap that will allow mobile WiMAX to operate in the 700 MHz spectrum band. WiMAX in the U.S. has been mostly focused on the 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands, of which Sprint/Xohm and Clearwire are major holders/users. Expanding to the 700 MHz bands opens up a range of opportunities with other carriers, especially after the conclusion of the current 700 MHz auction. It’s unclear how long before 700 MHz WiMAX options will be available, but the WiMAX Forum reports that work on the technical specifications is already underway in the association's working groups.

An interesting side note is speculation by Fierce Broadband Wireless editors that suggests the WiMAX Forum is also close to announcing a WIMAX profile for the AWS spectrum bands, which operate in 2496-2690 MHz. It’s often overlooked that one of the largest holders of this spectrum is the cable industry. Should mobile WiMAX extend its roadmap to AWS, it could provide a path for cable companies to get in on WiMAX, providing them the broadband wireless strategy they so desperately need. Stay tuned.

The 700 Mhz auction continues to impress, with a record $19.2 billion bid for 1089 provisional winning bids. Round 52 is scheduled to begin Monday morning, and continue throughout the day with six scheduled rounds. Although bidding on the nationwide “open-access” C block has slowed down, there has been much speculation that the Verizon and Google are the bidders in play. Many are speculating that Verizon has abandoned the nationwide C block bid, and is instead trying to trump Google by concentrating their efforts on the regional C block licenses. If the regional C block licenses garner more dollars than the national C block version, the regionals win. If Verizon wins the C block contest through this regional approach, many believe they will drag their feet on the “open access” provision, much to Google’s chagrin. While the action has slowed down in the A, B, and E blocks, there still continues to be interest in certain regions.

The 700 MHz spectrum auction has set a record for bids, and at the end of round 24, had raised a total of $17.5 billion for the U.S. treasury. The previous record was $13.9 billion, set at the AWS auction of 2006. The bidding has slowed somewhat today, compared with yesterday, when over $4 billion was added. At the end of round 24, there were 1067 provisional winning bids among 1060 provisional winning bidders. The auction is expected to continue for several weeks, and will end when there are no more additional bids. Perhaps the biggest news of the auction is that the “open mandate” clause for the C block has been reached, as bids now surpass the $4.6 billion minimum bid required by the FCC to trigger it.

It’s somewhat unchartered territory for the open mandate of the C block spectrum. The concept is that consumers will have the ability to connect any compatible device they choose to the winning bidder’s network. Those devices will be available through consumer electronics channels, and consumers will not have to go through the wireless carrier to obtain them. It's somewhat analagous to how you can connect any laptop or other device you want to W-Fi networks today. It could lead to a variety of new and innovative devices and applications as well as a somewhat different business model for mobile carriers. In addition to pre and post paid subscribers, “nomadic” users for the network will pay by a time period (say a day’s access), or maybe even by the megabyte. Other business models may emerge as well – perhaps free, but ad supported, access will be available. The open mandate was “championed” by Google. The potential for mobile ad placement and search creates a huge opportunity for Google. They will be driving much of the refinement of this new approach to mobile wireless and its impact on the competitive environment.

We’re up to $6 billion in bids for the coveted 700 Mhz spectrum, with round 9 to begin this morning. Through eight rounds, there are 967 provisional winning bids for licenses, with 960 provisional winning bidders. Most of the attention is on the C block which has attracted a bid of $2,976,465,000 at the end of round eight. The C block can be won as a single nationwide license, or can be broken into several regional licenses, depending on the winning bids. The regional licenses overtook the one national license in earlier rounds, but by the end of round eight, the single national license was back on top in the lead position. We don’t know who’s bidding, but safe bets are it’s one of three parties – Verizon, AT&T, or Google. The D block which also a nationwide license, but has a public safety network build out mandate attached to it is languishing. It’s received a single bid of $472 million, well below the FCC reserve price of $1.3 billion. If the reserve price is not met, the FCC will likely re-auction that spectrum at a later date without the mandates.

There is plenty of action in the A and B blocks. Unless Google (or some other entity that comes “out of left field”) wins the C block and builds a nationwide competitive network, the A and B spectrum block winners will probably have the most impact on the competitive landscape. Bids run the range from a low of $6,900 for the Johnson, Tennessee market B block, to a high of $298 million for the New York City market A block. A and B winners will be in a position to launch competitive broadband wireless networks on a regional and local level across the U.S. The “open” provision of the C block, assuming it remains intact, should add some competitive salt as well. While not necessarily adding competitive carriers, it could spur a wave of innovation and empower a variety of new applications and features which may impact the competitive landscape.

Keep track of the auction at the FCC auction 73 website.