Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) may have scored the bulk of the "beachfront property" available in the FCC's 700 MHz spectrum auction, but cable, thanks mostly to Cox Communications Inc. , wasn't shut out. (See Verizon & AT&T Win 700 MHz Sweeps.)

The privately held MSO, according to data released Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) , bid for and won more than 20 licenses covering markets such as Macon, Ga.; Pensacola, Fla.; New Orleans, La.; Omaha, Neb.; and Wichita, Kan. Cox bid under the name Cox Wireless Inc.

A Cox spokeswoman declined comment about the results of the auction Thursday afternoon, citing a quiet period.

Cox is also part of SpectrumCo, a cable consortium that won a swath of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum in the fall of 2006. Other SpectrumCo MSO partners, notably Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) and Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC), opted to stay on the sideline for the 700 MHz auction. (See Cox Preps 700 MHz Spectrum Bid and Comcast, TWC Won't Bid in Wireless Auction .)

BendBroadband of Bend, Ore., secured a B block license for $6.74 million.

We'll have more detail and analysis about what this means for the cable industry Friday.

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News