The three big players in the 700MHz auction, AT&T and Verizon, which won big blocks of spectrum, and Google, which did not but will nevertheless maintain a strong influence on everything that will happen in the industry regarding the newly leased frequencies, have opened up about their wireless plans.

AT&T said that it will use newly acquired 700 MHz B-Block spectrum to launch its own 4G LTE mobile broadband network. AT&T bid a total of $6.6 billion. It also got access to the C-block spectrum from Aloha Partners LP for $2.5 billion. The total spectrum now available to the telecom company will give AT&T complete coverage in the top 200 US markets and 87 percent coverage over the entire US. The 4G LTE network will probably be up around 2012, the company said.

"Results of the auction bidding demonstrate the B Block was the most attractive, most valuable spectrum available, and it was the best investment for AT&T and our customers," said Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T's wireless division, in a statement.

Verizon, the big winner of the C-block which comes with open access rules, will also roll out a nationwide mobile broadband network based on the 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard. They are expecting to complete the launch a couple of years earlier than AT&T, around 2010. Verizon Wireless bought the largest 700MHz block, paying $9.6 billion.

The FCC rules on the C block issued last year forbid 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.

"Google didn't pick up any spectrum licenses in the auction. Nonetheless, partly as a result of our bidding, consumers soon should have new freedom to get the most out of their mobile phones and other wireless devices," Google's Richard Whitt, Washington Telecom and Media Counsel, and Joseph Faber, Corporate Counsel, said on a company blog, pointing out that the FCC had only adopted 2 of the 4 rules that they were pushing for the C block. As a consequence, the search engine leader alleges their pledge regarding its use is nullified.

"The end of the auction certainly doesn't mark the end of our efforts toward greater wireless choice and innovation.[...] Android is already off to a successful start, and we are likely to see handsets later this year based on the Android platform," Google said.