As expected, Verizon Wireless came out on top in the Federal Communications Commission's wireless spectrum auction, the great telecom bidding war over a coveted slice of airwaves due to become available next February.

The wireless carrier spent a total of $9.63 billion to acquire enough regional licenses in the spectrum's hotly contested C Block section to build out a "nationwide footprint," according to analysts at research firm Stifel, Nicolaus & Co.

AT&T won 227 B Block licenses, paying a total of $6.64 billion.

The two companies, along with other winners in the bidding, will receive their allotments once the spectrum becomes available in February, following the deadline for TV broadcasters to move to all-digital signal.

The sale of the 700MHz spectrum freed up by those broadcasters is highly prized for its ability to penetrate walls and travel long distances.

Consequently, the auction raised $19.59 billion in revenue for the government, with $16.27 billion coming from Verizon and AT&T alone.

The Commission sold 1,090 licenses in the auction, with a non-national telecom company winning at least one license in every market.

"As a result of the 700MHz auction, there is the potential for an additional wireless 'third pipe' in every market across the nation," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in a statement.

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In addition to the new wireless networks Martin looks for from smaller providers, the national telecommunications companies will use the new spectrum to upgrade their existing ones with higher data-transfer speeds.

For Verizon, the C Block acquisition supports its longstanding plans for upgrading its nationwide data network.

"We are very pleased with our auction results," Verizon said in a statement, adding that FCC rules prohibited further comment.

Bidding in the auction ended on Tuesday, but under the rules the FCC created, it could not release the winners' names until it decoupled the D Block, which failed to reach the minimum reserve bid, from the A, B, C and E blocks, which all met and exceeded their reserves.

The D Block is the portion of the spectrum designed for building a next-generation network for public safety communication.

Google's game

Google, another bidder in the auction, did not win any licenses.

Special Report

Scrapping For Spectrum
Large chunks of the U.S.'s wireless spectrum are up for grabs, with the FCC overseeing the distribution. With wireless carrier giants like Verizon and AT&T vying with free-broadband advocates and tech leaders like Google, who will finish first in the race for airwaves?

But Stifel said the Web search giant "walked away the happy loser." Its participation had spurred bidding vigorously enough to trigger a much-discussed provision in the FCC's rules that required the C Block's winner to open the spectrum -- allowing all devices and software to run on it.

The open-access provisions, which went into effect once the bidding had passed a $4.6 billion reserve, had been designed to encourage competition in the auction from non-traditional bidders like Internet companies.

They also became the subject of vocal complaints and legal challenges from established wireless companies.

At the same time, the FCC's rules received praise from consumer advocates and Internet software and content players -- Google chief among them. The company had said it planned to commit a minimum of $4.6 billion to bidding, ensuring open-access rules would come into play.

In a company blog post, Google attorneys Richard Whitt and Joseph Faber wrote that "although Google didn't pick up any spectrum licenses, the auction produced a major victory for American consumers."

"We congratulate the winners and look forward to a more open wireless world," they said.

Continued on Page 2: Consumer advocacy groups cheer open-access; D Block still remains in play.

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