AT&T, Qualcomm win licenses in FCC auctions

SAN FRANCISCO (Thomson Financial) - AT&T Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. each said late Thursday they have won wireless broadband spectrum in Federal Communications Commission 700 MHz-spectrum auctions.

AT&T said it won prime B-Block spectrum in a recent auction that augments the C-Block spectrum acquired from Aloha Partners earlier this year.

The San Antonio-based telecommunications company said that when the auction award is completed, its 700 MHz spectrum will cover 87% of the U.S. population and each of the 200 top markets.

The company does not expect the spectrum purchase to have a material impact on its operating results.

Qualcomm said it paid $558.1 million for eight E-Block licenses in a recent FCC auction.

The licenses cover the Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia and San Francisco regions.

The San Diego-based telecommunications company also bought three B-Block licenses, in the California-Imperial, New Jersey-Hunterdon and Yuba City, Calif. cellular market areas, for $3.5 million.

AT&T shares closed the regular session up 29 cents at $39.01. Qualcomm stock fell 6 cents to $41.89 at the closing bell. Brigid Gaffikin

Google mulls next moves on U.S. wireless networks
Google Inc confirmed on Thursday it had been an active bidder in recent U.S. auctions for licenses to create a national wireless network and that it will weigh in as regulators set new rules.

In a statement, the Internet services leader said it planned to remain active in rule-making by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that will govern how Verizon Communications , the winning bidder for the "C Block" of nationwide wireless spectrum, will operate its network.

"In ten of the bidding rounds we actually raised our own bid -- even though no one was bidding against us -- to ensure aggressive bidding on the C Block," Google said. Active bidding ensured the rules designed to make these networks more open to independent Web services will be implemented, it said.

The Silicon Valley company also said it will weigh in on new rules the FCC may set as it re-auctions airwaves that are to be shared between public safety agencies and commercial service providers -- the "D Block" in the auctions.

"As more policymakers and regulators around the world evaluate their own spectrum policies, we'll continue pushing to help make the wireless world look much more like the open platform of the Internet," the company said in its statement.