FCC's 700 MHz auction deadline: enjoy the silence (and Putin please)

Now this is fun. It's IT Blogwatch: in which we hit the deadline for the Federal Communications Commission's 700MHz spectrum auction. Not to mention Russian voting irregularities...

Grant Gross says go:

Companies that want to bid in the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's upcoming 700-MHz auctions were largely silent about their plans [Monday], the deadline for submitting bid applications ... The auctions begin on Jan. 24, but they could last several weeks. [more]

Ron Schenone shakes the disease:

Starting today ... by FCC rules, participants are prohibited from discussing their strategy nor bidding plans with the hopes of keeping the auction process honest. [more]

It's Karl Bode, but not tonight:

Both Time Warner Cable and Comcast have confirmed that neither one of them will bid in next year's 700Mhz auction. [more]

Bryan Gardiner dreams on:

AT&T ... confirmed that the iPhone is driving the company's interest in 700 MHz spectrum ... most major cable operators seem to be shying away from the 700, despite their rumored interest in "quadruple-play" bundles, or high-speed data, telephony, TV, and wireless. [more]

Joseph Weisenthal wonders if the cable cabal are damaged people:

The cable industry has been on the defensive for much of the year ... So far, there’s no great demand for a quadruple play coming from cable ... [Time Warner Cable] is more interested in the post-voice space—machine-to-machine communications, 4G, etc. [more]

For Eric Savitz, everything counts (in large amounts):

Time Warner Cable (TWC) [and] Comcast (CMCSA) ... are higher on the news; winning spectrum would imply the need for a big capital investment project that investors would not want to see. [more]

Harold Feld is breathing in (oak leaf) fumes: [That's enough Depeche Mode song titles -Ed.]

I have been surprised at the reluctance of most analysts to accept that Google really does want to win licenses ... [but] Google has a different vision for the wireless world it can only achieve by owning licenses ... [it] has no desire to be a network provider. but it wants to be a network architect ... [and] when Google commits, it does so all the way. [more]

And finally...

• Did somebody mention "voting irregularities"?

Buffer overflow:

• Davide Veneziano: Server Log Analysis of Phishing Web Sites
• Paul McNamara: 'Green' buildings steam employees
• Steve Moir, IT Toolbox: Why IT goes wrong
• Willie, IT Toolbox: At your shop, who is responsible for the SQL performance?
• Jeremy Reimer: Mozilla scoffs at vulnerability study rating IE superior to Firefox
• Data Center Knowledge: Google to Enhance Web Hosting Offering
• Charlie White: Consumer Reports Cellphone Service Survey 2008 Published: Read 'Em and Weep
• Mike Masnick, Techdirt: The Most Anti-Tech Organizations... Or Just The Most Misguided?

Other Computerworld bloggers:

• Don Tennant: Video: BEA co-founder Bill Coleman on the prospect of an Oracle acquisition
• Seth Weintraub: iPhone browsing marketshare closes in on .1%
• Mitch Betts: Second Life: How to move from a cringe-inducing wasteland to real business value
• Frank Hayes: Frankly Speaking: Attention, Shoppers
• Mark Hall: Change can be costly
• Preston Gralla: Facebook founder: I can have privacy, you can't
• Skark Tank: Never Mind
• Angela Gunn: (Un)welcome back, old-timer
• Douglas Schweitzer: Bot Roasted to perfection!
• Shark Bait: Corporate Customer Service

Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 20 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You too can pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk. Easy tiger.

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• Facebook privacy Beacon boo-boo (and porcine choon)
• Google does a Digg on search results (and C64 fanboyband)
• Le iPhone et 3G (but is it art?)