Who won which pieces of spectrum in the 1,700Mhz and 2,100Mhz bands is unknown right now, but we do know that 70 different companies and organizations submitted bids. Obvious players were involved, like AT&T and Verizon, but Dish also participated, as did some private equity firms, like Grain Management LLC. Interestingly, Sprint sat this one out, though the company does have what the Wall Street Journal calls, "largest stores of spectrum" in the industry.

Part of the reason people were shocked by the high price tag, is that these higher frequencies are actually considered less valuable than lower bands. That's largely because they're unable to cover as much distance or penetrate buildings as easily. But, since they're able to carry large amounts of data over short distances, they can be very useful in cities.

Hopefully we'll have more information about who won what soon, but for now lets just enjoy the cash windfall for the government and the American tax payer. Of the nearly $45 billion, $7 billion is already earmarked for a nationwide broadband public safety network, $115 million is going to help implement the next generation of 911 networks and $20 billion is going straight to deficit reduction.

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