U.S. FCC says 62 bidders make down payments in spectrum auction

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Friday that 62 bidders have made upfront payments in a forthcoming wireless spectrum auction, including AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc, Dish Network, T-Mobile US and Comcast Corp.The auction is set to begin on Aug. 16. Last month, the FCC said the price of 126 MHz of television airwaves taken from broadcasters to be sold for wireless use is $86.4 billion.Analysts said wireless providers may not be willing to pay the staggering amount for the airwaves to expand theirnetworks, which could prompt the FCC to hold additional auction rounds.The so-called "broadcast incentive" spectrum auction is one of the commission's most complex and ambitious to date.In the first round, called a reverse auction, broadcasters competed to giveup spectrum to the FCC for the lowest price. In the next stage that will start next month, the forward auction, wireless and other companies will bid tobuy the airwaves for the highest price.If wireless companies and other investors are unwilling to pay $86.4 billion, the FCC may have to hold another round of bidding by broadcasters and sell less spectrum than had been expected, analysts said.