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The FCC's auction of the 700MHz spectrum, soon to be abandoned by analog television broadcasters, is over. Bids totaled $19.6 billion for licenses across the country. But it may be weeks until the winners are announced publicly. Among the big bidders, AT&T and Verizon are the most likely, and the most boring. Google tried to shape the debate over access to the spectrum with a promised bid, and have been acquiring infrastructure over the years. And there's a chance an unknown or three might make a splash. Valleywag is, of course, all ears at tips@valleywag.com.

The D-Block is still up for sale, so Google could still pick up a slice of nationwide bandwidth for $1.3 billion. Though the search giant would have to build out coverage for at least 75% of the population in four years, plus share it with emergency services and other public agencies, and we all know how successful Google's been at working with public officials on wireless infrastructure projects. (Photo by Omid Tavallai)