Quick news from around the Web.
Auction Watch: After 86 rounds, the last of which included 67 new bids, the FCC's AWS-3 auction has raised a total of $43.580 billion in provisionally winning bids. Page. AWS-3 auction primer.
How to understand the Google-Apple smartphone war http://t.co/xQ2LXnTvIp via @waltmossberg
— FierceWireless (@FierceWireless) December 12, 2014
> Google removed Amazon's app from its Play store after Amazon added access to its own app store to its Android app. Article
> T-Mobile US is now selling the HTC Nexus 9 for 24 payments of $24.99 each or $599.76 outright. Release
> Apple will reportedly start producing millions of Apple Watches next month. Article
> Verizon Wireless added Voice over LTE technology to its Droid Turbo phone through a new software update. Article
> Qualcomm said it invested $40 million into several "promising" Chinese companies. Release
> Canada's Competition Bureau is looking at whether Apple used anti-competitive clauses in contracts with Canada's wireless carriers. Article
Telecom News
> CenturyLink continued a recent buying spree by acquiring Cognilytics, a provider of advanced predictive analytics and big data solutions for mid-sized and large enterprises. Earlier this week the carrier announced it was buying disaster recovery expert DataGardens. Article
> In a management shakeup, Windstream founding President-CEO Jeff Gardner has resigned and Tony Thomas, president of the company's real estate investment trust (REIT) and former CFO, has been named as his replacement. Gardner will stay on as a senior advisor to the CEO and member of the board of directors through Feb. 1, 2015. Article
Cable News
> Netflix responded to an open letter sent to it last week by Republican FCC commissioner Ajit Pai, who accused the SVOD provider's private content delivery network of being an Internet "fast lane" that harms competition. Article
> For the pay-TV industry, the steady drumbeat of recent bad news from research companies continued Wednesday, with PricewaterhouseCoopers releasing a report showing that the number of young adults 18-24 with cable, satellite or telco video subscriptions is now 71 percent, down 6 percent from 2013. Article
European Wireless News
> Vodafone signed a global agreement with outdoor advertising company JCDecaux to deploy small cells on street furniture and billboards to further enhance its network performance. Article
> Jolla, a start-up Finnish device maker, will seek partnerships with digital content providers and e-commerce players to strengthen its Sailfish operating system (OS) after completing a series-B financing round and smashing its goals for crowd-funding of a new tablet PC. Article
And finally… Iowa might start offering smartphone-based driver's licenses starting next year. Article