FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:

March 18, 2008 Clyde Ensslin: (202) 418-0506

> Chelsea Fallon: (202) 418-7991

**STATEMENT BY FCC CHAIRMAN KEVIN J. MARTIN**

Washington, D.C. -- FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin today announced the
close of Auction 73 (the 700 MHz auction). The auction began on January
24, 2008, and closed today after 261 rounds of bidding. The FCC auction
raised a record \$19.592 billion and helped advance new open platform
policies.

**Auction 73 Raised More Money Than Any Auction has Ever Raised**

The \$19.592 billion in revenue raised in the 700 MHz auction is
significantly more than raised in any past FCC auction. In comparison,
the 2006 Advanced Wireless Service-1 (AWS-1) Auction raised \$13.9
billion.

The \$19.592 billion generated by the auction nearly doubled
congressional estimates of \$10.2 billion. All other 68 auctions
conducted by the FCC in the past 15 years collectively generated a total
of only \$19.1 billion in receipts.

The proceeds generated from this auction will be transferred to the U.S.
Treasury by June 30, 2008, and will be used to support public safety and
digital television transition (DTV) initiatives.

The reserve prices for four of five spectrum blocks were met, and the
gross provisionally winning bids secured on 1,090 licenses in these
blocks totaled approximately \$19 billion. Even with open platform and
aggressive build-out obligations, each of these blocks sold for more
than AWS-1 blocks with comparable bandwidth and license areas. The eight
unsold licenses in those blocks remain held by the FCC and will again be
made available for commercial bidding in a future auction.

The gross provisionally winning bids on the 12 licenses in the
22-megahertz Upper C Block totaled \$4.75 billion, collectively
exceeding the reserve price of \$4.6 billion. The gross provisionally
winning bids on the A, B, and E Block licenses also met their reserve
prices with bids totaling \$3.96 billion, \$9.14 billion, and \$1.27
billion, respectively. Total A, B, C, and E Block bids were more than
twice the total of their reserve prices of \$8.724 billion.

**An Open Platform Achieved**

This auction provided an opportunity to have a significant effect on the
next phase of wireless broadband innovation. With the open platform
requirements on one-third of the spectrum, consumers will be able to use
the wireless device of their choice on those networks and download
whatever software or applications they want on it. The open platform
will help foster innovation on the edge of the network, while creating
more choices and greater freedom for consumers to use the wireless
devices and applications of their choice. A network more open to devices
and applications can help ensure that the fruits of innovation on the
edges of the network swiftly pass into the hands of consumers.

**Commitment to Public Safety**

The 700 MHz Upper D Block of spectrum, which was dedicated to the
creation of a Public Safety/Private Partnership to create a nationwide,
interoperable network, did not receive a bid that met the \$1.3 billion
reserve price established for this block. I believe the Commission
remains committed to ensuring that we work to solve public safety's
interoperability challenges. Because the reserve price for the D Block
was not met in the 700 MHz auction, the FCC is now evaluating its
options for this spectrum.

**Highly Valuable Spectrum**

The 700 MHz spectrum is attractive to both industry and public safety
organizations because it is especially well-suited for wireless
broadband, is capable of carrying large amounts of data, can travel far
distances, and easily penetrates walls with great efficiency and speed
-- allowing for more effective and reliable wireless communications.

The next generation of wireless networks to be deployed in the 700 MHz
Band will be faster than those available today, and they will extend to
both urban and rural areas of the country. Wireless broadband will be
able to reach unserved areas of the country, and it will bring increased
competition to the broadband sector that is currently dominated by DSL
and cable providers.

I proposed changes to the technical rules that helped make this auction
a record success. We implemented anonymous bidding and package bidding
for the first time in an auction of this size.  This change increased
the efficiency of the auction. We also changed the power limits for the
A and B blocks which were not tailored to the provision of mobile
broadband services.  This modification made those blocks much more
suited to the provision of these mobile services. This made a
significant difference in the attractiveness of these blocks to service
providers wanting to provide mobile services. 

The Commission established the aggressive build-out requirements for the
A, B, C and E blocks in the auction and required more comprehensive
service coverage than other Commission license. These rules will ensure
that the spectrum is quickly put to use by the auction winners to deploy
new technologies and offer new services in both urban and rural areas of
the country.

Further details about this and other FCC auctions can be accessed on the
FCC's auctions web page at
[[http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions]{.underline}](http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions)
and FCC's Integrated Spectrum Auction System website at
[[http://auctions.fcc.gov]{.underline}](http://auctions.fcc.gov/).

-- FCC --

News and other information about the Federal Communications Commission\
is available at [[www.fcc.gov]{.underline}](http://www.fcc.gov/).