The Federal Communications Commission auction for the 700 MHz wireless broadband spectrum ended this week, raising $19.592 billion after 261 rounds of bidding.

The auction, which began Jan. 24, raised more than any other FCC auction in the past and doubled congressional estimates of $10.2 billion.

"The next generation of wireless networks to be deployed in the 700 MHz band will be faster than those available today, and they will extend to both urban and rural areas of the country," said FCC chairman Kevin J. Martin in a statement from Washington.

"Wireless broadband will be able to reach unserved areas of the country and it will bring increased competition to the broadband sector that is currently dominated by DSL and cable providers," he said.

All previous FCC auctions conducted in the past 15 years collectively generated only $19.1 billion. Of that, the FCC's 2006 Advanced Wireless Service-1 (AWS-1) Auction raised $13.9 billion.

Reserve prices for four of the five spectrum blocks -- A, B, C and E -- were met, with the gross provisionally winning bids secured on 1,090 licenses in these blocks totaling nearly $19 billion.

Only the 700 MHz Upper D Block of spectrum for the creation of a public safety/private partnership to create a national, interoperable network didn't meet the $1.3 billion minimum reserve price. The FCC is now evaluating its options for this spectrum.

Funds from the auction will be transferred to the U.S. Department of the Treasury by June 30. The monies will be used to support public safety and digital television transition.

This auction was designed to create an impetus for the next phase of wireless broadband growth, per the FCC.

With the open platform requirements on one-third of the spectrum, consumers will be able to use the wireless device of their choice on those networks and download whatever software or applications they want on it, the agency said.

The 700 MHz spectrum is ideal for wireless broadband since it's capable of carrying large amounts of data, can travel long distances and easily penetrates walls with speed.

"I proposed changes to the technical rules that helped make this auction a record success," Mr. Martin claimed. "We implemented anonymous bidding and package bidding for the first time in an auction of this size. This change increased the efficiency if the auction.

"We also changed the power limits of the A and B blocks which were not tailored to the provision of mobile broadband services," he said.

"This modification made those blocks much more suited to the provision of these mobile services. This made a significant difference in the attractiveness of these blocks to service providers wanting to provide mobile services."