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10 Things Verizon Could Have Bought with the Money It Spent on the C Block

Posted 03/21/08 at 11:39:05 AM  by Tom Edwards

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Verizon came away with the big prize in the FCC's auction of spectrum that had previously been used by UHF channels. The company spent $4,713,823,000 to win a near-nationwide swath of the C block of the spectrum, which will allow the telecom to build out a 4G network that should allow for near DSL-speed downloads to phones and other mobile devices. How long such a build out will take and what this will mean for consumers remains murky at this early stage in the game. While we applaud Verizon on its winning bid, we can't help but think how the company might have better spent that cash. Leave your suggestions in the comments.

 

10. 14,141,469,000 Cadbury Eggs

Sure, some might favor chocolate bunnies or marshmallow peeps, but when it comes to Easter candy, nothing beats a Cadbury Egg.

 

9. 1,885,529,200 Pork Sandwiches from Sonny's Barbecue, Trinity, Alabama

Delicious, and at $2.50 a pop a hell of a bargain.

 

8. 1 soul now held by associate editor Dave "The Murph" Murphy

In truth, it can be had for much less, and we'll throw in the soul of Butters the (former) Intern as well.

 

7. 10,872,616.7 shares of Google

Verizon should make buckets of money from this deal in the long run, but this strategy would likely work just as well.

 

6. 235.6 trips on the Soyuz to the International Space Station

Perhaps the execs at Verizon could get a group rate by traveling along with Richard Garriott.

 

5. 3,273.4 Bugati Veyrons

...or 1,313,042,618.3 gallons of regular from the Ocean Ave Service Station.

 

4. 4,761,437,373.7 song downloads from Amazon.

We merely make a suggestion.

 

3. 18,855,292,000 packages of fun-size M&Ms, or, approximately 3,77,105,840,000 individual candies.

Which would last in the Maximum PC offices for, oh, about 17 minutes.

 

2. 7,869,487.4 EVGA 01G-P3-N891-AR GeForce 9800 GX2 videocards from Newegg.

 

1. 315,305,886.2 subscriptions to Maximum PC.

 

COMMENTS:7
TAGS: cell phone, Google, fcc, Verizon, at&t
COMMENTS
avatarNot really

Submitted by neo1piv14 on Tue, 12/30/2008 - 8:45am

Sorry, person's friend at verizon, but I've been using Verizon's EVDO for mobile internet. I can honestly say that if my DSL was remotely similar to what I get on EVDO, I would save myself the money and use carrier pigeons. It's roughly the same speeds I got with dialup on my PC. Sure, it's a phone, so what do I expect, but I'm not the one saying it's DSL-like

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avatarVerizon is "near DSL" when you are "Near" a cell tower

Submitted by DRAGONWEEZEL on Mon, 03/31/2008 - 12:30pm

Lets get real folks. Cell service is great in some parts of the country and crap in others. Renton / Seattle? Great on I-5. Olympia? sometimes great sometimes crap based on where you are. Coverage doesn't overlap enough in some areas, and is a little overkill in others. (do I really need 4 bars in a lead lined concrete room?)

But the only time I get close to "DSL" speeds is when EV is maxed at 4 bars. 3 bars, it slow but steady, two it works, and I dont' complain because I remember monochrome cell phones (bricks).
at 1 bar, sneaker net is usually faster. and any time I am on 1x I might as well walk/run/drive to the nearest net terminal, as it would save tons of time, unless I am a stuck passenger in a moving vehicle.

Oh, and if it were MY choice... I would have taken the Bugatti Veyrons.

THERE ARE ONLY 11 TYPES OF PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD. Those that think binary jokes are funny, those that don't, and those that don't know binary

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avatarTrinity

Submitted by Caramoore on Mon, 03/24/2008 - 7:36am

Which one of you would know anything about Trinity, Al? I mean I know Will is from Tennessee but we rarely let people from Tennessee come across the border... lol. Those sandwiches are good though.

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avatarThat was me. Alabama

Submitted by tedwards on Mon, 03/24/2008 - 8:34am

That was me. Alabama barbecue is awesome--Muscle Shoals, Decatur, Birmingham, all full of great barbecue places.

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avatarResponse from my friend who works at Verizon

Submitted by plaskon on Mon, 03/24/2008 - 6:11am

"Well in the cellular world, specturm is a mobile service provider's greatest expense. The air space is what a cellular provider needs in order to provide service! Buying more specturm allows a company to expand their offerings and to also keep competition at bay.

That MaxiumPC aritcle isn't totally accurate. We already provide "near DSL speeds" with our EVDO-Rev A network (a 3G technology that covers a good portion of the country). In fact, our current upload speeds are BETTER than DSL (approaching 800Kbps) With this expanded space, we will have the capability to offer 4G service, but it won't be happening for a while. Perliminary tests show 4G approaching 100Mbps download and 50Mbps upload speeds in real world settings. Good times indeed!"

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avataruuunnmmm.....

Submitted by Shalbatana on Fri, 03/21/2008 - 11:25am

Cadbury cream eggs.
ullluuggggh....

can't stop....

arteries hardening in a slow death of sugary chocolatiness.

There's no time like the future.

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avatarI love the last one. lol

Submitted by rhsquad on Fri, 03/21/2008 - 10:43pm

[}-{Nick Breezy}-{]

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