WASHINGTON—Bidding on a 3-megahertz license to offer air-to-ground services in the 800 MHz band appears to be over as AC BidCo L.L.C., an affiliate of AirCell Inc., looks to be the winner with a $31 million offer.
Bidding is continuing between Space Data Spectrum Holdings L.L.C. and JetBlue’s LiveTV L.L.C. for the remaining 1-megahertz license. At the end of round 58, Space Data Spectrum Holdings was on top with a bid of almost $2 million.
The Federal Communications Commission decided to auction the spectrum, which is currently being used by Verizon Airfone Inc., because it said the spectrum is underused. Verizon Airfone has dropped out of the auction so it must vacate the spectrum by May 2010.
AirCell offers air-to-ground voice services for private aircraft. Space Data uses balloons instead of towers to offer broadband services.
The other qualified bidders all appear to have dropped out. These bidders included: Acadia Broadband L.P.; AMTS Consortium L.L.C.; Intelligent Transportation & Monitoring Wireless; WorldCell Inc.; and Unison Spectrum L.L.C.
The ATG auction consists of 4 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 4 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 3-megahertz license and a 1-megahertz license.
