The FCC auction for the 700 MHz frequencies vacated by TV broadcaster in early 2009 has ended. The auction, dubbed Auction 73 by the FCC, raised a record amount of money and the FCC says the auction created new opportunities for new entrants and small businesses in nationwide and rural markets.

The FCC says that the auction raised a total of $19.592 billion (PDF) and it points out that a bidder other than a nationwide incumbent won a license in every market, paving the way for an additional wireless “third-pipe” in every market across the nation. The FCC also mentioned that 99 bidders other than nationwide incumbents like AT&T and Verizon won 754 licenses in total. That figure represents 69% of the 1090 licenses the FCC sold in the 700 MHz auction.

The newest entrant into the wireless services field and the biggest new winner of spectrum was Frontier Wireless LLC (EchoStar), which won 168 licenses in the E block establishing a nationwide presence for its services.

The FCC says that the rules of the 700 MHz auction ensured that rural areas where broadband access is traditionally scarce were served. 75 new entrants into the market won a total of 305 licenses to serve rural areas. These new license will allow companies to roll out broadband data services to rural consumers.

As you might expect the biggest spectrum winner according to the FCC was a nationwide incumbent carrier — Verizon. Verizon was the major winner in the coveted C block acquiring the six CONUS REAGs plus Hawaii.

While the winners are still tight lipped on plans and talking up the spectrum they won thanks to a FCC embargo on information relating to the auction, some statements by the big winners have been made.

AT&T president and CEO of its wireless unit said in a statement, “AT&T's strong spectrum holdings position the company to further enhance the quality and reliability of existing wireless broadband and voice services, and to set the foundation for new-generation wireless broadband technologies and services.”

AT&T can now boast that its spectrum winnings in the 700 MHz auction allow it to cover 100% of the top 200 markets nationwide. When combing AT&T’s new spectrum wins with spectrum it purchased in the AWS auction last year AT&T now covers 95% of the U.S. population.

Verizon is understandable happy with its winnings and issued a statement saying, “We are very pleased with our auction results. Specifically, we were successful in achieving the spectrum depth we need to continue to grow our business and data revenues, to preserve our reputation as the nation’s most reliable wireless network, and to continue to lead in data services and help us satisfy the next wave of services and consumer electronics devices.”

The bids Verizon says it won include nationwide spectrum covering 289 million Pops and an additional 102 licenses for individual markets covering 171 million Pops.

While Google didn’t actually win any spectrum in the auction, it did win by losing the auction as DailyTech previously reported. A blog post on Google’s public Policy Blog said, “We congratulate the winners and look forward to a more open wireless world. As a result of the auction, consumers whose devices use the C-block of spectrum soon will be able to use any wireless device they wish, and download to their devices any applications and content they wish. Consumers soon should begin enjoying new, Internet-like freedom to get the most out of their mobile phones and other wireless devices.”

With the auction over, the spectrum will be available to the winners in 2009.