Verizon Wireless Has Won the 700 MHz C Block

Today the FCC announced winners in the 700 MHz spectrum auction. Verizon Wireless was the biggest winner. It snagged the C Block of spectrum with its bid of $4.74 billion. The C Block was the largest swath of airwaves being auctioned off, and Verizon's new 700 MHz licenses cover the entire continental U.S. plus Hawaii. The FCC also said that AT&T won 227 regional licenses in the B Block. Those new licenses cover many major cities, including: Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Houston, NYC, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. AT&T's licenses do not, however, blanket the country as Verizon's do. Other winners include MetroPCS, which won a large A Block license covering the metropolitan Boston region, and Qualcomm, which won E Block licenses covering Boston, Los Angeles, NYC, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Frontier Wireless, in partnership with EchoStar, also won an E Block license that covers almost all of the U.S. Google, which was bidding on the C Block, did not win any licenses.