Two months after the auction began and almost $20 billion later, The Federal Communications Commission announced the winners of the 700MHz spectrum. The big announcement unveiled things that most of us had already expected: AT&T and Verizon were top of the list. On the other hand, Google’s much talked about bids were not enough to grant them any license for the spectrum, but it did show their support for open access.

According to The Federal Communications Commission, Verizon Wireless bought the largest block, paying $9.6 billion, while AT&T bid a total of $6.6 billion. EchoStar Corp.’s Frontier Wireless LLC made a $712 million bid, FCC’s report unveiled. At the same time, Qualcomm was the third big name on the list, which according to The Federal communication’s Commission, totaled $558 million.

The big winner of the C block, “Verizon Wireless made a commitment to open its entire network to devices and applications of consumers’ own choosing. Verizon wireless was the major winner in the C block acquiring the six CONUS REAGs plus Hawaii,’ said FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin in a statement.

The auction of the 700MHz spectrum will ensure wireless services to rural and urban areas across the United States. According to Martin, 75 names won licenses in 305 rural areas of the country, out of a total of 428 Rural Service Area licenses.

There was one more side to this whole auction, as Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein highlighted: “It’s appalling that women and minorities were virtually shut out of this monumental auction [...] Here we had an enormous opportunity to open the airwaves to a new generation that reflects the diversity of America, and instead we just made a bad situation even worse. This gives whole new meaning to “white spaces” in the spectrum,” Adelstein concluded.