If you’ve even casually glanced at one of our memos or blog posts in the last year, you know that wireless carriers are in a mad scramble for spectrum. They need these frequency bands to run the LTE networks that will carry the information for our data-hungry phones and tablets. Wireless carriers don’t often agree with each other, but they have come together begging the Government to auction off spectrum that it’s been holding on to since the switch to digital TV freed up the frequencies. And written into yesterday’s payroll tax-cut extension, is the auction that they’ve all been clamoring for.
A portion of the auction proceeds would help cover the cost of extending jobless benefits, which is also part of the payroll-tax legislation.
No word on when the auctions will actually take place, but if I’m not mistaken, that gust of wind blowing through my hair was caused by the huge sigh of relief from wireless lobbyists.
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