700-MHz Auction Heads into Day 6, Round 18

Jan. 31, 2008 (Vol. 29, No. 3) 

Bids in the FCC’s 700-MHz auction topped $12.7 billion Jan. 31 after 17 rounds of bidding, according to the FCC’s auction Web site.

The highest bid for the most coveted C block was $4.3 billion as of Wednesday night. In a provision Google lobbied hard to win, the FCC has stipulated that if bids for the C block surpass $4.7 billion, the winning bidder will have to open the spectrum to all devices and applications, Reuters explains.

The FCC is taking bids on more than 1,100 groups of spectrum. Bidders are anonymous until the auction closes. (

New Tangoe Product Does 160 Global Carriers

Jan. 31, 2008 (Vol. 29, No. 3) 

The newest product from Orange, Conn.-based TEM provider Tangoe Inc. can process wireline and wireless electronic bills from more than 160 carriers in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

Tangoe announced the release of its CommCare WorldView managed services solution on Jan. 30.

The application can handle any currency and tracks conversion rates, Rick Pontin, Tangoe’s chairman, tells Voice Report.

The firm partnered with Belgium-based telecom consultancy Tam Tam to build the application.

Global paper invoice entry services and additional carrier billing system interfaces are slotted for release in the second quarter of 2008, Tangoe says in a press release.

WorldView is available to enterprises that purchase Tangoe’s CommCare package as an “enhanced bundle” – in which Tangoe loads all of your billing – or as a “premier bundle” – which includes provisioning, contract management and bill optimization.

Tangoe charges for WorldView as a percent of telecom spend, Pontin says.