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[ft] The Federal Communications Commission, the US media regulator, could be nearing a decision to exclude AT&T and Verizon from a multi-billion dollar spectrum auction that is due to be held in the next year, according to industry watchers in Washington.

In a report on the state of the wireless industry released on Thursday, the FCC found that concentration in the mobile wireless market had increased 32 per cent since 2003 as AT&T and Verizon, the leading mobile companies, continued to gain market share.

Industry analysts, corporate lobbyists and a consumer watchdog said the report signalled that the FCC was laying the groundwork to exclude the nation’s two largest wireless carriers from an auction of valuable spectrum

AT&T and Verizon await FCC decision