LIN Television Corp. and
ventures backed by cable pioneer Paul Allen and former AT&T
Broadband Chairman Amos Hostetter were among the top bidders in a
U.S. government airwaves auction that netted $89 million for
spectrum now used for TV.
Seattle-based Vulcan Spectrum LLC, owned by Charter
Communications Inc. chairman Allen, bid $15 million for 24
licenses in the Northwest U.S. Providence-based Aloha Partners LP,
whose partners include Charles Townsend and Hostetter, will pay
$29 million for 77 licenses, according to U.S. Federal
Communications Commission records.
The FCC is selling airwaves now used for TV in anticipation
of a planned industry shift to digital signals on new channels.
Critics have said the spectrum would have been more valuable if
the agency had waited until TV broadcasters stop using the
frequencies.
“The intended use of this spectrum is to push the
capabilities of wireless networks beyond where they are today and
envision that there will be a national high-speed wireless network
sometime way off in the future,” William Savoy, president of
Vulcan Ventures, Allen’s investment company, said at a meeting
with analysts earlier this month.
Providence-based LIN Broadcasting bid $4.3 million for 18
licenses.
Bloomberg News
