$36B Auction Shows Net Neutrality Is No Threat to Investment
When President Obama called for net neutrality this month, AT&T said the sky would fall. It warned that a policy banning internet providers from giving special treatment to some websites over others would lead companies to stop investing in new network capacity. So much for that.
As of Tuesday morning, an airwave auction by the FCC is still going gangbusters as companies scramble for a series of spectrum licenses that will let them deliver more data and stream more video to consumer cellphones. While most people expected the bidding to exceed the $10 billion reserve price set by the agency, the FCC has already raked in more than triple that — bids have exceeded $36 billion, and the auction is still going. Companies like T-Mobile, Dish and, yes, AT&T are all participating in the bidding.
Here’s a screenshot from the FCC’s auction website that shows Round 32 of the bidding, and the eye-popping figures at stake:
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