[Bidding comes to temporary halt until after the holidays.]

by Jeremy Pelofsky, Washington -- "The U.S. government has received bids totaling $11.1 billion in its auction of valuable wireless licenses as the sale comes to a temporary stop for the holidays and more companies drop out.

"In the most lucrative auction of airwaves ever conducted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 58 companies are vying for critical spectrum that will allow them to deploy more services and expand coverage for mobile phones, pagers and other devices.

"Verizon Wireless has led the bidding all week and had offered $5.5 billion, half the total amount bid, after the 23rd round on Thursday followed by Alaska Native Wireless, which has ties to AT&T Wireless Group (NYSE:AWE - news), with $2 billion in bids.

"I think people are going to take the next two weeks and think about where they want to start bidding" again after the holidays, said Carr Krueger, a partner in Arthur Andersen's business consulting group.

"The auction resumes on Jan. 5 after the holidays.

More...

Back to Headlines...