Satellite firms most active in airwave auction

WASHINGTON — A partnership that includes the nation’s two top satellite television providers emerged as the leading bidder at the close of the first day of a major auction of public airwaves.

Wireless DBS LLC, consisting of EchoStar Communications Inc. and the DirecTV Group, was the top bidder Wednesday, offering $282.5 million for 13 licenses.

After the first day, net bids in the auction totaled $897.8 million, according to the Federal Communications Commission, which is running the auction. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the sale ultimately will raise $10 billion to $15 billion.

The FCC said in a statement that the auction will “lead to the deployment of new services and wireless broadband for consumers.”

The top bids are provisional — meaning if the auction were to end today, they would be the highest. However, the auction will continue until no more bids are submitted, which means it could last several weeks.

The satellite television companies outdistanced T-Mobile USA, the most active bidder in the morning round. The subsidiary of the German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom ended the day with top bids totaling $121.7 million on 23 licenses. The third leading bidder was SpectrumCo LLC, a consortium of the nation’s largest cable television providers. The group bid $106.9 million on four licenses.

Bidders are competing for the right to use portions of the publically owned radio spectrum.