So where does all that money go, anyway? A BIG PARTY on Verizon’s tab!

Someone at the FCC is buying at least one round this weekend.

I mean, $19.59 billion with a B? For nothing more than air? For the uninitiated, I am referring to the results of the latest FCC auction of spectrum, or the licensed radio wavelengths that are used for everything from television broadcasts to yup, you guessed it, your cell phone networks.

The block up for grabs this time had been labeled “the beachfront property of wireless spectrum,” because of its purported ability to carry lots and lots of data (read: ads and media, hint hint). It is the space currently and soon to be formerly occupied by standard TV broadcasts, which are switching to go all digital.

Actually, I could’ve titled this post “The rich get richer - by losing their shirts.” All that money came from primarly two sources - Verizon and AT&T, primarly the former.

Noticably absent was Google - which honestly was a surprise to me. But they helped drive the price up, apparently, and got some provisions for open access networks (the ability for any phone or service provider to work on a particular network).

Also, the video guys didn’t really jump in full-force: Cox and a partner of Dish Network got some, but not nationally like the two big boys.

But two questions remain:

1) Did VZ and AT&T overpay? Some say yes, some say it’s too soon to tell. Here is an excellent post by Susan Crawford about the particulars of both the auction and the context around it.

2) Will it make consumers life better, and will it make it easier for marketers to use cell phones to advertise? Yes and no. It will take a few years, but this spectrum will make our current DSL landline connections seem like dial-up. The mobile Internet will work on this. And no, marketers will still face the same reservations and objections from consumers about getting ads on their phones as they always did. Even a noted online marketing expert acknowledged as such in my previous post (there’s just something about a person’s relationship with their phone). It will make it easier to get the content there, but will it make it easier for a consumer to want it? That’s up to the marketer, not the technology or the spectrum.

As for the fate of all that loot, here is a missive from the Washington Post:

“The winnings from the auction will go to the U.S. Treasury and are earmarked for support for public safety and digital television transition initiatives.”

That kind of loot should get us all a personal bodyguard, me thinks. But there oughta be a share set aside for a kegger, anyway.