MetroPCS Inc. bidding partner Royal Street Communications L.L.C. continues as the single highest bidder in the Federal Communications Commissions’ ongoing Auction 58 of 242 wireless spectrum licenses. Royal Street has posted combined high bids of $387.7 million for seven licenses through 18 rounds of bidding, including the highest bid for a single market with a $374.5 million bid for a 10-megahertz license covering Los Angeles.
Verizon Wireless bidding partner Vista PCS L.L.C. has posted the second-highest total through 18 rounds with $246.4 million in high bids for 32 markets, followed by T-Mobile USA Inc. bidding partner Cook Inlet/VS GSM VII PCS L.L.C. with $199.3 million in high bids for 35 markets.
A pair of 10-megahertz licenses covering Houston have garnered the second- and third-highest single bids with Vista bidding $103.1 million for one license and Leap Wireless International Inc.’s Cricket Licensee Inc. bidding $94.7 million for the other license.
The auction has garnered nearly $1.7 billion in total bids for 207 of the available licenses, with analysts expecting the auction to top at between $3 billion and $3.5 billion in total bids.
