The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Friday that 62 bidders have made upfront payments in a forthcoming wireless spectrum auction including AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc, Dish Network, T-Mobile US and Comcast Corp.
The auction is set to begin on Aug. 16. Last month, the FCC said the price of 126 MHz of television airwaves taken from broadcasters to be sold for wireless use is $86.4 billion. Analysts said wireless providers may not be willing to pay the staggering amount for the airwaves to expand their networks, which could prompt the FCC to hold additional auction rounds.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese)