WASHINGTON—JetBlue’s LiveTV L.L.C. was the top bidder at $506,000 at the end of round 29 for a one-megahertz license to offer air-to-ground services in the 800 MHz band.
LiveTV’s bid corresponds with a high bid from Acadia Broadband L.P. at the end of round 30 at nearly $26 million for a three-megahertz license.
The Federal Communications Commission decided to auction the spectrum, which is currently being used by Verizon Airfone Inc., because it said the spectrum underused.
Interestingly, Verizon Airfone has dropped out of the auction so it must vacate the spectrum it is using by May 2010.
Other qualified bidders include: AC BidCo L.L.C., an affiliate of AirCell Inc., Space Data Spectrum Holdings L.L.C.; AMTS Consortium L.L.C.; Intelligent Transportation & Monitoring Wireless; WorldCell Inc.; and Unison Spectrum L.L.C.
The ATG auction consists of four megahertz offered in three license combinations. For this auction, the FCC is using a new procedure to ensure that no one entity or its affiliates control all four megahertz by allowing companies to place bids on specific licenses. These licenses correspond to one of three band plans. At the end of each round, the band plan with the highest bids wins, along with the bidders for the respective licenses.
Bidding appears to have shifted to option No. 2 after being focused on option No. 3. Both options are for a combination of a three megahertz license and a one megahertz license.
