The Washington Post, August 13th, 2001
THE HIGH-TECH economy has featured many wild schemes and delusions, but the Federal Communications Commission's 1996 auction of wireless spectrum was among the wildest of all. Under direction from Congress, the FCC restricted participation in the auction to small companies seeking to get into the cellphone business, then allowed firms with assets up to $500 million to qualify as "small." When the auction was held, several participants bid sums way in excess of that, with the highest offer clocking in at a cool $4.7 billion. Not surprisingly, the three top bidders all subsequently went bankrupt...
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