FCC Auction a Beacon for Tower Owners

Federal wireless auctioneers say they have attracted 266 would-be bidders to next month's 700-megahertz airwave auction.

The Federal Communications Commission posted lists of bid applications Tuesday for its upcoming auction on the broadband spectrum. And while it's early yet, one possible winner has already emerged: the antenna tower sector.

The thinking is that once the usual suspects like AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), EchoStar (DISH) -- and maybe a few unusual suspects like Google (GOOG), America Movil (AMX), NTT (NTT), and Qualcomm (QCOM) -- win pieces of the new data-friendly radio waves, outfits like American Tower (AMT) and SBA Communications (SBAC) and Crown Castle (CCI) will field calls to help make the network infrastructure happen.

Thanks to Google's open standard agenda, the FCC has attached a big string to the winning licenses. Operators using this new broadband spectrum will have to allow all sorts of gadgets to use the network.

If successful, this policy could loosen the grip big telcos have on the wireless data market, opening up an opportunity for new services on rival mobile Internet devices. Non-phone companies without networks will presumably lease antenna space on existing towers, say industry observers.

"We believe the 700 MHz auction could result in potential new entrants, which may serve as a positive catalyst for the tower group heading into the end of the year," Citigroup analyst Mike Rollins said in a report Wednesday.

American Tower shares were up 77 cents Wednesday to $41.77; Crown Castle climbed 35 cents to $39.52; and SBA was up 21 cents 32.97.

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