The 700 MHz auction kicked off today with two rounds of bidding, racking up a total $2.425 billion. Unlike previous auctions, the FCC is keeping secret the leading bidders’ names, revealing them only after the auction concludes. But the bids themselves are public and the biggest bid so far is for the C block, a package of 8 regional licenses covering all 50 states. The open-access spectrum block attracted two bids in two rounds, ending at $2.25 billion for the day.  more

HP this week delivered a major platform update for its NG OSS portfolio, adding a handful of new features but more importantly adding key underlying capabilities and standards deployments that set a new baseline for future OSS feature releases.

The updates include a new 6.0 version of HP’s TeMIP fault management system and new 5.0 version of HP Service Activator Software. Also on tap: a partnership with Cisco to deliver a managed services management solution for carriers running Cisco-based IP networks. more

AT&T said today it expects to begin pair-bonding advanced DSL lines in “late 2008,” pushing back the expected arrival of what the company says is an important part of its fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) initiative.

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By its own estimates Nokia achieved 40% global handset market share in the fourth quarter after a strong holiday sales season and increased dominance in the developing markets. Nokia is clearly benefiting from Motorola’s failure to execute on its new products, but Nokia’s momentum may have inspired CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo to be a bit more daring. He claimed Nokia would regain its lost market share in North America, the only region where Nokia is not the market leader. more

AT&T is expecting a strong 2008, with consolidated revenue growth in the mid-single digits, a significant expansion in margins and continued double-digit growth in earnings per share — even if the U.S. economy continues to struggle, Senior Executive Vice President and CFO Rick Lindner told financial analysts today.

The financial markets reacted badly earlier this month, when AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson mentioned a slowdown in the consumer market, and some analysts questioned whether AT&T had taken into account the current economic times when making its relatively rosy 2008 projections. more