FCC Intends to Bar Joint Bidding in Airwaves Auction

[GoBigRed79]

Not good news for Sprint. 

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-01/fcc-intends-to-bar-joint-bidding-in-airwaves-auction.html

 

[S4GRU]

I disagree with Chairman Wheeler. Blocking joint bidding reduces competition in bidding allowing the duopoly to get more. Smaller providers need to jointly bid in order to effectively make competing bids with the duopoly. He is completely wrong on this issue, if his goal is competition. Whether for consumers or to raise bids/revenue on the spectrum sale.

 

Only the duopoly wins with the stand. Everyone else loses.

 

Robert

[MacinJosh]

Chairman Wheeler is now showing his true colors. His bitch about Verizon throttling unlimited LTE data customers was just a coverup.

[themuffinman]

I don't see this sticking at all, what in the hell are the "little guys" suppose to do to compete?

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

Total bullshit and par for the course. Doesn't surprise me.

 

This is what happens when big corporations are allowed to lobby government to further their cause. Then one with the most money wins.

 

Wheeler is a shill. Period.

 

 

 

Sent from my LG G3 using Tapatalk

[dstar2002]

Go for broke Softbank.

 

Take all that T-Mobile purchase money, smoke as much of this auction as you can. T-Mobile will die without it.

[NYC126]

Wheeler has been a shill from day one. He basically killed net neutrality. Softbank don't get it the whole bs of the fcc concerned about 4 wireless players is because the twin bells told this shill to block it. It's not concern about lack of competition.

[sbolen]

Go for broke Softbank.

Take all that T-Mobile purchase money, smoke as much of this auction as you can. T-Mobile will die without it.

My thoughts exactly.

 

Use that Alibaba IPO windfall to run the table on these jokers.

[swintec]

Couldnt a single company / entity owned by the two, and put together only for this auction bid on the spectrum?

[S4GRU]

Couldnt a single company / entity owned by the two, and put together only for this auction bid on the spectrum?

 

Possibly.  We will have to see what Edict the Spectrum King hands down.

 

Robert

[NYC126]

The fanboys at tmonews.com assume tmobile will have more money to outbid sprint in the 600mhz auction.

[S4GRU]

The fanboys at tmonews.com assume tmobile will have more money to outbid sprint in the 600mhz auction.

 

Uhh yeah.  Not unless Masa owns them too.

 

Robert

[jamisonshaw125]

Uhh yeah.  Not unless Masa owns them too.

 

Robert

This is the funniest part of most of the arguments on those websites....How do they expect Tmobile to magically have the funds to do things like that...Masa is rich...He's very very rich, and SoftBank is not going anywhere...

[dstar2002]

Uhh yeah.  Not unless Masa owns them too.

 

Robert

 

I actually laughed out loud when I read that.  Best part, its true.  TMobile would be bringing a knife to a gun fight when it comes to Softbank.  The voracity and audaciousness that Masa shows is incredible.  He gets his way, or pummels you into submission, and still gets his way.  

 

I think with enough effort they could sway the merger with the regulators, because hes got the cash.  Cash buys lobbyists, which buy politicians and corrupt employees. I just hope he goes the other way and says F this, I am going to crush you and take over your customers once you are irrelevant. 

[bigsnake49]

Idiot chairman is idiot . You cannot have the two smaller providers compete against the big two unless they cooperate on network deployment. I have been agitating for either a common network or a merger for ever. I swear he is in AT&T/Verizon's pocket.

[dstar2002]

Idiot chairman is idiot . You cannot have the two smaller providers compete against the big two unless they cooperate on network deployment. I have been agitating for either a common network or a merger for ever. I swear he is in AT&T/Verizon's pocket.

He is a Verizon pet. Jump on Reddit and just watch the trending articles, you can see a Verizon slime bag move everyday, with the FCC no where to be found.

[swintec]

If Sprint/TMO can do a joint bid, then T and Verizon could do the same thing just to stop them both in their tracks couldnt they?

[dstar2002]

My guess is the duopoly opposes it because if Sprint/Tmo joint bid on the portion of the auction the duopoly can't get, then they will have more money for the open portion, potentially being able to out bid the big 2.

 

We wouldn't want that to happen now would we ????

[tybo31316]

Seems to me that T-Mobile is the loser in this scenario. If sprint can get a hold of at least 5x5 nationwide to help with coverage sprint will be sitting OK with the 2500mhz they have. T-Mobile can't afford not to buy any additional spectrum low band and mid range. So I believe that T-Mobile needs this joint venture more than sprint does.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[Dfarley]

First, didn't the Chairman cap the amount of spectrum that one carrier can obtain in an effort to allow smaller carriers like Sprint and TMobile a better opportunity to win some spectrum? So wouldn't a combined TMobile and Sprint then put themselves into the larger carrier category?

 

Second, whether justifiable or not, the chairman is opposed to the Sprint / TMobile merger. Allowing them to join forces in the spectrum bid would sort of be like allowing them to back door any merger efforts they're currently trying to put together.

 

And third, one goal of the spectrum sale is to generate revenue; if carriers were allowed to join forces (aka collude with one another) in the bidding process, that would effectively eliminate one of the big bidders in the process, in turn reducing the potential of income. The more bidders putting cash on the table, the higher the bid price (supply & demand).

[dstar2002]

Do you really think this auction is about the money generated for the spectrum, or, for the money these corrupt officials get from the lobbyists and corporations?

 

Supply and demand is only a factor when all things are neutral. Allowing Sprint and T-Mobile to bid together gives them more money to bid with, not less. This scares the duopoly.

[S4GRU]

First, didn't the Chairman cap the amount of spectrum that one carrier can obtain in an effort to allow smaller carriers like Sprint and TMobile a better opportunity to win some spectrum? So wouldn't a combined TMobile and Sprint then put themselves into the larger carrier category?

 

Second, whether justifiable or not, the chairman is opposed to the Sprint / TMobile merger. Allowing them to join forces in the spectrum bid would sort of be like allowing them to back door any merger efforts they're currently trying to put together.

 

And third, one goal of the spectrum sale is to generate revenue; if carriers were allowed to join forces (aka collude with one another) in the bidding process, that would effectively eliminate one of the big bidders in the process, in turn reducing the potential of income. The more bidders putting cash on the table, the higher the bid price (supply & demand).

 

If they can't afford to outbid VZW or ATT will they even bid at all on many key markets? By ruling out smaller companies joining forces you remove additional bids, not add more. The Chairman knows this, but is spinning it to try to get us to believe it will raise more money. Essentially it will make sure just the Duopoly bids on the best licenses. Smaller providers will be relegated to the scraps. It will be 700MHz all over again.

 

If smaller companies could band together, they'd have a shot at actually bidding against the duopoly. Thus adding a third bidder and driving UP prices. The Chairman can do sleight of hand all he wants, but most of us will not be convinced.

 

Additionally, joining forces on one band of spectrum is not a de facto backdoor merger. It would allow two independent companies to be able to better compete with the Duopoly. Which is what the FCC says they want.

 

Or maybe they don't want that at all? Maybe all their moves aren't to protect consumers, but special interests? Nobody wants there not to be a merger more than the Duopoly. And if you think about it, no one loses on a Tmo/Sprint 600MHz sharing arrangement other than the Duopoly.

 

It would be the best for consumers. Just imagine all that Legere could do for the little people if he only had access to choice 600MHz spectrum. But joking aside, VZW and ATT already have lots of low frequency spectrum. They can easily serve all the indoor and fringe areas it wants. They need to focus on high frequency capacity now to bolster their networks.

 

Tmo has virtually no low frequency spectrum and Sprint only a little. They desperately need it. And the Duopoly knows that. They are trying every move they can to stop it. This is one of those moves. Their lobbyists have been able to convince the Chairman this is the right move. But I completely declare it is wrong for everyone other than the Duopoly's interests.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

[MacinJosh]

The CCA should start it's own spectrum holding company, and all the members should pool their money in to fight the Duopoly in this auction. A spectrum sharing agreement of this magnitude will scare the crap out of AT&T & VZW.

[darickster09]

If they can't afford to outbid VZW or ATT will they even bid at all on many key markets? By ruling out smaller companies joining forces you remove additional bids, not add more. The Chairman knows this, but is spinning it to try to get us to believe it will raise more money. Essentially it will make sure just the Duopoly bids on the best licenses. Smaller providers will be relegated to the scraps. It will be 700MHz all over again.

 

If smaller companies could band together, they'd have a shot at actually bidding against the duopoly. Thus adding a third bidder and driving UP prices. The Chairman can do sleight of hand all he wants, but most of us will not be convinced.

 

Additionally, joining forces on one band of spectrum is not a de facto backdoor merger. It would allow two independent companies to be able to better compete with the Duopoly. Which is what the FCC says they want.

 

Or maybe they don't want that at all? Maybe all their moves aren't to protect consumers, but special interests? Nobody wants there not to be a merger more than the Duopoly. And if you think about it, no one loses on a Tmo/Sprint 600MHz sharing arrangement other than the Duopoly.

 

It would be the best for consumers. Just imagine all that Legere could do for the little people if he only had access to choice 600MHz spectrum. But joking aside, VZW and ATT already have lots of low frequency spectrum. They can easily serve all the indoor and fringe areas it wants. They need to focus on high frequency capacity now to bolster their networks.

 

Tmo has virtually no low frequency spectrum and Sprint only a little. They desperately need it. And the Duopoly knows that. They are trying every move they can to stop it. This is one of those moves. Their lobbyists have been able to convince the Chairman this is the right move. But I completely declare it is wrong for everyone other than the Duopoly's interests.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro

 

The FCC is corrupt and we all know it...  just saying...

[utiz4321]

So apparently the fcc was instituted to protect att and vzw?