Verizon and AT&T, two of the largest cellphone service providers, won the Spectrum auction, leaving Google behind.

A Spectrum auction is a process where governments throughout the world sell the rights to transmit signals. Companies who are in the business of providing wireless communication services need to bid at these auctions and win the licenses provided by the government.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) conducts these auctions and assigns thousands of licenses to many firms. These auctions are sold for billions of dollars. This auction method for assigning Spectrum resources, which are scarce, is being used widely everywhere in the world.

Earlier, before these Spectrum auctions were started in the US, lotteries and administrative process were used. Later on, they were rejected because they were found not to be efficient enough.

These auctions are not awarded to everyone. The main thing that is looked into is efficiency – which means that the Spectrum has to be given to those that are best able to use it. The second consideration is maximization of revenue. Even with all the concern about efficiency, governments have to care about the revenues raised at these auctions as they are huge sums.

Armed with this knowledge about Spectrum, you would understand better the heavy competition there is, to win these auctions. In the auction that ended this week, both Verizon Wireless and AT&T won a greater part of radio Spectrum.

The winning of this auction is a great thing to happen to Verizon, as it will help Verizon in catching up with AT&T, which is currently the nation’s largest wireless carrier and also the largest portfolio holder of Spectrum.

Google also participated in bidding for C block frequencies for $4.7 billion, but lost the auction to Verizon. C block frequencies can be used for wireless voice and data service nationwide. (more…)

The recently imposed restriction on H-1B visas that prohibit employers from filing more than one petition for an employee in the fiscal year, did not go down too well with many people, as was expected.

In fact, there have been demands from various US employers to raise the cap on H-1B visas. A new study reveals that American businesses are finding it difficult to fill the skilled positions, even with the large number of foreign professionals coming to US on H-1B visas.

These quotas on H-1B visas have been a sore spot for a long time with companies like Microsoft and other high technology companies. Even heads of education are miffed with these visa rules that have become even more strict post 9/11. The Institute of International Education estimated that the number of foreign students coming into the US to study has dropped since 2003, for the first time in more than 30 years. It blamed the decline to stricter visa rules and increased competition from other foreign universities.

US businesses actually benefit from the issue of H-1B visas to employ foreign workers in various fields where practical and theoretical expertise in certain specialized occupations needs a Bachelors or a higher degree, including engineers, computer programmers and scientists.

The current cap on these visas is 65000 per fiscal year. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reveal that the first 20,000 H-1B petitions files by foreigners with US-earned masters degree or higher are exempt from this cap. (more…)

Why is the government so complicated? You figure out all the details of your business, make it successful, and then the law comes into play and makes things a mess. It seems so simple to start a company, but you must file paperwork with the government, give various notices, adhere to certain standards, and, of course, pay the government their piece for the privilege.

Copyrights and patents are an area some are familiar with and others violate accidentally on a regular basis. Corporations, sole proprietorships and partnerships have their own set of criteria and paperwork that must be filed in a timely manner. Unfortunately, the government does not offer much wiggle room when it comes to business operations, so be sure all legal aspects are in perfect order at all times. (more…)