The auction is over, and Verizon and AT&T are billed as the big winners. According to the Associated Press, Verizon "won nearly every license in the consumer-friendly "C block."

Echostar reportedly also picked up enough regional licenses to cobble together a national offering. Google walked away with nothing, but was happy with it, as its losing bid achieved its goal of requiring open access on the new networks.

One surprise was the DISH network's winning bid for a block of licenses. Reports speculate that the company might intend to use their spectrum swath for a mobile TV service.

Here's a selection of coverage on this hot topic from around the Web:

BusinessWeek summary wrap-up

Summary from Gizmodo, with a link to a background guide on the 700MHz spectrum

Associated Press short summary

TechCrunch on Google as the real winner

Engadget with links to AT&T, Verizon and Google statements

PC World/Reuters on DISH surprise

If you've found some other good stories on the topic, by all means link to them in comments below.