NEW ORLEANS - No one will ever say that America's wireless carriers are too proud to beg.

Former Federal Communications Commission chairman Reed Hundt made waves this week when he called the House spectrum auction legislation "the single worst telecom bill" he's seen.

Verizon's spectrum deal with several cable companies could soon come under the same government scrutiny that AT&T received during its attempted merger with T-Mobile.

While AT&T's attempts to acquire T-Mobile are stuck in limbo, rival Verizon has been quietly gobbling up spectrum from cable companies like Cox Communications, which today sold Verizon $315 million in licenses for 20MHz of its Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum.

The company responsible for rolling out the National Broadband Network, NBN CO, has purchased pay TV provider, AUSTAR’s, 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz spectrum to roll out wireless broadband to rural and regional areas.

India's auction of 3G spectrum and licenses to the private sector is unlikely to go ahead as originally scheduled on Jan. 14, according to sources close to the situation.

The auction of 3G spectrum and operating licenses in India will be held as planned on Jan. 14, the country's Minister of Communications and IT, A. Raja told reporters in Delhi on Monday, according to media reports.

Silicon Valley is home to a lot of strange bedfellows, whether hard-nosed venture capitalists and Web 2.0 dreamers or bottom-line hardware tycoons and arty device designers. The odd couple on stage Thursday at the Wireless Communications Association International conference on Thursday, one in a blue suit and red power tie and the other in jeans, T-shirt and casual blazer, could stand with the best of them.