What Comcast bought and sold in the FCC auction
Comcast gave up some of its broadcast spectrum, but gained new frequencies that should be useful in the future.
With the "quiet period" now over for the FCC's Broadcast Incentive Auction, Comcast Corporation shared Thursday what it's sold and bought. The NBCUniversal broadcast division sold spectrum in Philadelphia (Telemundo-WWSI), New York (NBC - WNBC), and Chicago (Telemundo- WSNS) for $481.6 million – with the main TV services of each moving (via "channel sharing") to other NBC broadcast properties or frequencies. On the buy side, Comcast made a "strategically compelling investment at historically low prices" -- $1.7 billion for spectrum that covers "88 percent of our footprint and most of the footprint of each of our top 25 markets." However, the spectrum will not be cleared and available for use for several years, but won't be needed, said the company statement, for the "launch and growth of our Xfinity Mobile product" -- a mobile phone service utilizing both Verizon Wireless and Comcast Wi-Fi frequencies -- that's coming later this year as an option for Xfinity TV and internet customers.