The Federal AWS-3 Airwaves auction has finished, raising over US$44.9 billion. Bidding closed on Thursday and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will announce the winners in the next few days.

The auction is the first time wireless carriers have been able to acquire new airwaves spectrum since 2008, and looks to be the largest wireless spectrum auction in the U.S.

Like Us on Facebook

AT&T and Verizon Wireless have both looked to spend between $5 and $8 billion on spectrum in the next two years, but Sprint and T-Mobile have been less aggressive with spectrum bids in the past.

T-Mobile has shown it is ready to compete however, following 8.4 million new customers added in 2014. If T-Mobile manages to acquire more spectrum, it might finally be available to provide the same national service that Verizon Wireless and AT&T offer.

Dish Network and Google might also be interested in acquiring spectrum, both working on new wireless networks. Google will reportedly use T-Mobile and Sprint's network at the start, building an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator).

Dish has tried to acquire Sprint in the past, but failed to beat Japanese wireless provider SoftBank. 

We will update once wireless auction winners are announced. 

TagsFCC, Federal Airwaves, wireless spectrum, AWS-3 airwaves