Cable and Satellite TV Making a Bid For Airwaves

According to The New York Times, cable and satellite television giants are planning to get into mobile phone and wireless data services. The newspaper reported that Time Warner, Comcast, Cox Communications, EchoStar Communications and DirecTV will be among the 168 bidders in the government's multibillion-dollar auction of radio spectrum. It appears that these companies are preparing to go head-to-head with AT&T, Verizon Communications and other companies that sell traditional phone lines, broadband connections and wireless services, and are now focusing on television as well.

An alliance that includes DirecTV and EchoStar put in the largest deposit for the bidding, more than $972 million. Another alliance, led by Comcast, Cox, Time Warner Cable and others, put down $638 million. T-Mobile, Cingular Wireless and Verizon Wireless have made separate deposits.

Cellphone companies are expected to counter the cable and satellite companies by adding to their stores of spectrum, particularly in cities where their networks get the most use. They may also bid up the price of some of the 1,122 licenses on sale to make it more expensive for their rivals to gain a foothold in an already intensely competitive market, said analysts who spoke to the newspaper.

Learn more about this issue in The New York Times article Cable and Satellite TV Set Their Sights on Airwaves.