When you're the co-founder of Microsoft there's always that nagging question of what to do with your
millions billions. How 'bout bidding for some of that hot
700MHz action in the sweetspot of US spectrum? Seems that
Paul Allen has filed to bid in the FCC auction with an entity called Vulcan Spectrum LLC -- an investment company. Hint: Allen is also the majority shareholder of cable operator Charter Communications. Other notables on the list include Google and Verizon Wireless, naturally, as well as Qualcomm -- the protector of patents and
MediaFLO mogul. Remember, Qualcomm already holds 700MHz licenses obtained in a June 2003 FCC auction. It all goes down on January 24th when the bidding begins.
[Thanks, Grant G.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
quomen @ Dec 19th 2007 3:54AM
PLS DON'T WIN
tamoghno @ Dec 19th 2007 4:16AM
what he will do if he wins ?
well , he will gift it to his wife , & will make her happiest woman in the world , with the most expensive and most exclusive gift ever.
person8012 @ Dec 19th 2007 10:23AM
If he did that then his wife would have to be "open acess"
ErikLindemann @ Dec 19th 2007 8:23AM
I love it when rich people don't know what to do with their money.
On a side note, anyone else think of American Psycho when they heard his name?
rockintom @ Dec 19th 2007 12:07PM
No.
crispy @ Dec 19th 2007 10:06AM
Maybe we could send google a paypal donation?
"Dear Google, hope you win the 700 mhz bid. Here's 10 bux"
Joshua Walters @ Dec 19th 2007 11:01AM
Why would google take paypal? They have google checkout.
As much as I would want them to buy it, I dont think they are. I think they just wanted to make a big deal about it so that it would become open, then someone else can buy it, and they can use it.
jbcaro @ Dec 19th 2007 10:40AM
I think I saw that ventriloquist act at the comedy club last week. ;-))
Joshua Walters @ Dec 19th 2007 10:58AM
Paul Allen is cool. I wouldnt mind if he won. Of course, I would prefer Google, or even Verizon (Im a VZW subscriber, so it might benefit me in the future)
Samurai Jack @ Dec 19th 2007 11:20AM
No he isn't. Paul Allen is evil incarnate. His greed and selfishness know no bounds. Ask the folks in Seattle if they agree with your assessment or mine.
Vulcan winning the auction would not be a good thing.
BigPana @ Dec 19th 2007 2:12PM
Have you forgotten what he did to techtv?
Joshua Walters @ Dec 19th 2007 4:02PM
Wait, hes responsible for the destruction of Tech TV?
He just went from being "pretty cool" to the scum of the earth.
Chris K @ Dec 19th 2007 11:33AM
Sweet merciful Lord! I might actually cry if Charter ends up controlling the 700MHz band. For those not familiar with Charter as a customer, consider how evil your cable company is. Now multiply that by two... that's Charter.
I'm no MS hater, but I wish I could go back in time now and ask for my MS-DOS 5 money back.
LiqwidZero @ Dec 19th 2007 9:33AM
That's no lie! But at least I get all of those digital channels without a set top box. That's always nice. But their interwebs service sucks ass, seriously.
Mort @ Dec 19th 2007 10:42AM
Really? I have great luck with Charter, usually going faster than what I pay for. The TV service seems great, the phone service is crystal, great customer service and prompt work usually within an hour of calling even if they have to dispatch someone to my place.
That and they don't play nice with the MAFIAA when those idiots come a callin'.
Meagan @ Dec 19th 2007 2:04PM
I work for Charter, ha ha. Free for me.
Brad @ Dec 19th 2007 1:27PM
Mort, either you are a shill or a statistical anomaly. Whereas I won't go as far as saying that Charter is "twice as bad" as anyone else's cable company, Charter is right on par with Comcast.
I have personally walked around with a petition to force our municipality to break Charter's monopoly. You know Charter isn't well liked when your average signature rate is under 30 seconds for 3.5 hours straight. Throughout the process of getting 430 signatures, I had about 5 people refuse to sign because they thought Charter was doing well.
Bombaclaat @ Dec 19th 2007 2:41PM
Gates looks so gay in that picture, is he sitting on pauls lap?
Iridium @ Dec 19th 2007 3:13PM
Paul is just looking to buy this to prevent anyone from actually using it. I agree, evil incarnate.
The guy wastes more money than anyone on Earth, shy of a few oil shieks. $250million birthday parties, not happy with the world's #2, #3, #7, #24 and other yachts. His last yact is the size of a carnival cruise ship just for himself.
There is rich and being worth it, and being rich where everyone should get together and burn down your house.