Satellite TV providers bow out of US wireless sale

WASHINGTON, Aug 16 (Reuters) A joint venture of rival satellite television providers DirecTV Group Inc. and EchoStar Communications Corp. on Wednesday bowed out of the U.S. sale of valuable licenses for advanced wireless services.

The venture, Wireless DBS LLC, had initially showed strong interest in the auction, particularly big regional licenses, and had paid the largest deposit of all 168 bidders that qualified for the sale, 2.5 million.

Analysts had been initially surprised by the level of interest by the top two satellite providers, but they said the combined effort was likely an attempt to win airwaves they could use to offer high-speed Internet access, known as broadband. The Federal Communications Commission is overseeing the auction.

REUTERS RA RAI2035