As the Federal Communication Commission’s 700MHz auction continues, the infamous block “C” everyone has had its eyes on entered still waters on Tuesday, as bidding stopped at $4.74 billion, only 0.1% higher than the previous bid - perfect opportunity for speculations to set in of who the highest bidder could be. Only two names are currently associated with the block “C” bidding: Google and Verizon Wireless, but nothing will become certain until the end of the auction.

Up until this moment, the total biddings for the five spectrums account for nearly $19 billion. The FCC made a change as of February 6, stating that Phase 2 will begin. In other words, bidders will only have to offer 2% more than the current bid, 3% lower than in Phase 1. Analysts forecast that the auction could end earlier than predicted, possibly by the end of this week.

Speculations on who the big buyer of the block “C” may be are also accompanied by rumors that there could be more than one big name, and that bidders preferred to bid for smaller chunks of the block than for the whole thing.  Whichever the case, there is still unclear who will be the future main operator of the open network, as speculations about Verizon and Google continue.

FCC has passed its initial expectations, receiving almost double as expected, and the biddings are not over yet. From this moment on, the bidders will have to play by new rules, which means shorter bidding rounds and a lower amount needed to raise a bid. At the end of the day, Americans all in all will be the big winners of FCC’s auction, as they will soon benefit from the first open nationwide wireless network. The advantage of the 700MHz signals is that they go longer distances and are able to penetrate through the thickest walls.