“The winning bids totaled $19,592,420,000. That’s nearly double the amount the commission had hoped to raise from the spectrum being abandoned next year as television stations switch to new frequencies”. -NyTimes.com

Why is this such a big deal?

If you aren’t aware, the wireless spectrum up for grabs here will give the winning bidder

access to some of the best remaining spectrum — enabling them to send signals farther from a cell tower with far less power, through dense walls in cities and over wider territories in rural areas that are now underserved. – NyTimes.com

What we the consumers can expect…
Expect a higher demand in mobile devices. Data will be pushed across this wireless spectrum much more freely.  I predict to see a massive explosion of mobile internet browsing and sharing (right now, only about 10% of mobile phone users use the internet).  Bittorrent P2P sharing will boom as people will be more willing to share data if the speeds are faster.  Very exciting stuff…