After twelve rounds of bidding, the FCC is currently set to rake in $5.67 billion in net bids for the advanced wireless services (AWS) auction. Each of the major carriers and their consortiums hold one of the top four spots for big spenders. Once again, T-Mobile is in the lead in terms of both the net price of bids and number of provisionally winning bids (PWBs): T-Mobile currently has $1.52 billion on the table for 41 provisionally winning bids covering a population of nearly 315 million. Verizon Wireless is next in line when it comes to net bids, with $1.04 billion worth of PWBs (only two) that cover 99.7 million pops. Cingular Wireless is in third with 15 PWBs covering 267 million pops and worth $957 million. The Sprint/Cable consortium is holding down the fourth spot with eight PWBs covering 207 million pops and worth $817 million.
For more on the AWS Auction:
- see the FCC's chart of top bidders