FCC Says August Auction Won't Involve Blind Bidding
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The Federal Communications Commission said on Friday that an upcoming auction estimated to raise as much as US$15 billion for the government was competitive enough that companies won't be required to bid anonymously.
The FCC in April had approved rules that would require companies to bid anonymously in the event that there wasn't significant competition. The rules governing the auction marked a compromise approach suggested by T-Mobile International and favored by many wireless companies.
FCC officials had initially concluded that a blind auction, rather than an open one, would help prevent wireless companies from teaming up with one another to win licenses less expensively or punish other carriers that bid against them for prized spectrum.
However, wireless companies had opposed the plan, saying it would cause confusion. Regulators ultimately proved receptive to those arguments, and the rules the FCC adopted in April marked a compromise approach.
-By Siobhan Hughes, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6654; Siobhan.Hughes@dowjones.com
(Amy Schatz and Amol Sharma of the Wall Street Journal contributed to this story.)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires "
Posted to the site on 29th July 2006