The Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) much-hyped 700-MHz spectrum auction closed Tuesday, after nearly eight weeks of continuous bidding, with $19.6 billion bids. Every block but the ill-fated public safety d-block reached their reserve prices, calling into question the future of the public safety spectrum.

The c-block, which must be open to all applications and devices after reaching its reserve price of $4.6 billion, was sold for $6.5 billion. The d-block, which was supposed to provide public safety access if its $1.3 billion reserve price was met, failed to attract any bids beyond a $472 million opening bid.

In order to prevent anti-competitive behavior, the FCC said it would not reveal who placed bids on what until the auction was complete, and winning bidders have not yet been revealed. Stifel Nicolaus analysts Blair Levin and Rebecca Arbogast wrote in a March 7 note to clients that they expect the anti-collusion rules to lift by late March or early April.

Major players like Google, AT&T and Verizon, however, were all approved to participate.

The auction kicked off on January 24 with 214 approved bidders vying for 1,099 available licenses. Bidders were able to bid via phone or secure Internet connection during predetermined bidding rounds, and rounds were held until there was a round in which no bids were placed.

For the last week, bidders have been vying for smaller licenses in the E and B blocks, including those that cover American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and portions of California, Tennessee, Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

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