The Federal Communications Commission made public the results of the 700-megahertz spectrum auction. The auction raised $19.6 billion, more than the Commission ever hoped and the prime chunks went to the big internet carriers.

Verizon Wireless bought C Block, the largest, with $9.6 billion, while AT&T bid a total of $6.6 billion to pick up the B Block. EchoStar Corp.’s Frontier Wireless LLC made a $712 million bid and Qualcomm totaled $558 million.

Google Inc. didn’t win any license, but there were some new entrants. EchoStar Corp.-owned Frontier Wireless LLC bid $712 million and will sure make its mark with the licenses it won.

The federal government’s 700-MHz auction has drawn mixed reactions. Some were unhappy with the fact that the auction was won by the large incumbent carriers, other showed their contempt with the initiative which is a first step toward giving consumers access to a truly open wireless network.

"A bidder other than a nationwide incumbent won a license in every market," FCC chairman Kevin Martin said hinting that it’s possible for a "wireless third-pipe" competitor to emerge in every market across the U.S. This would increase the competition and the first one to benefit from it will be the consumer.

The fact that big carriers such as Verizon and AT&T won the big prizes on the "C" and "B" blocks of spectrum wasn’t such a surprise for research director for the New America Foundation's Wireless Future Program, Sascha Meinrath.

Meinrath said the auction went “exactly as expected" and now that the firs step was made the future of this project centers around how the FCC handles the open-access regulations it placed on the C Block, which is a very important segment of the spectrum due to the fact that it provides the broadest range of coverage over any spectrum available in the auction. Thinking ahead, C Block could be the key to building a nationwide open-access wireless network.

The FCC rules on the block issued last year forbids Verizon to halt or slow down the traffic from competing carriers that use the network. The rules also prevent the carrier from discriminating against devices trying to connect to the network.

"I don't see Verizon doing anything in the wireless space to threaten their status quo of control over the broadband marketplace. We need to remain vigilant to ensure that Verizon honors the FCC conditions in a way that brings real consumer choice into a still-closed marketplace," said Tim Karr of advocacy group Free Press according to PC World.