FCC Buys TV Spectrum To Boost Wireless

(RTTNews) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission Wednesday said it has finished the first stage of a spectrum auction and has acquired $86.4 billion worth of wireless airwaves from television broadcasters in a reverse bid.

The FCC will now will sell the TV spectrum to cellular service providers in a forward auction. However, analysts doubt whether wireless providers will be willing to pay such huge amount for the spectrum to strengthen their networks.

The agency will resells the airwaves in an auction that will start later this summer.

"Strong participation from broadcast stations made this initial clearing target possible," Gary Epstein, chairman of the FCC's incentive auction task force, said in a statement.

According to reports, AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., and T-Mobile are the only major carriers participating in the FCC auction.