Wireless spectrum is vital for telecoms companies who want to benefit from customers’ use of smartphones and tablet computers. Hence the rush to grab more of it in an auction being run by America’s Federal Communications Commission, which is to end soon. Telecoms analysts had predicted that the auction, which began last month, would deliver up to $22 billion to the government’s coffers; but a huge appetite for airwaves has already pushed the sum over $41 billion. The last big auction of wireless spectrum by the FCC took place in 2008. Since then, smartphones and other mobile gadgets have spread like wildfire, which partly explains the whopping amounts being offered. Some bidders are also said to be driving up prices deliberately in order to force AT&T and Verizon, who dominate the American wireless market, to pay a hefty premium. And the result? Stay tuned.