Internet giant Google and US telecommunications carriers AT&T and Verizon Wireless are among those expected to bid in January in a government auction of the last remaining smidge of wireless airwaves, an Associated Press report said.
Companies wishing to participate in the auction had until Monday to file an application with the Federal Communications Commission, the Associated Press report said.
In about three weeks, the agency will release a full roster of application submissions. Companies that filed incomplete applications have a chance to refile by December. 28, which also is the auction's deadline for upfront payments, the report added.
The wireless airwaves up for bidding lie on a particularly valuable band of spectrum, that's being freed up as part of the switch to digital television in February 2009, the report said.
The choice airwaves can travel long distances and easily penetrate walls, ideal for high-speed internet service, the report said.
The auction, scheduled to begin January 24, could raise as much as $15 billion for the US Treasury.