AT&T and Verizon Wireless claimed a victory in the country's most lucrative spectrum auction ever. This feat holds significance for the companies as it serves the means of maintaining the infrastructure advantages they have over smaller competitors.

The Federal Communications Commission revealed in a statement that the auction has brought in $41.3 billion from 31 winning bidders. A total of 1,611 licenses will be distributed throughout the country.

"Although winning bidders must still make payments and submit applications prior to the grant of licenses, by any measure it's safe to say that the auction was an overwhelming success", said Roger C. Sherman, chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.

AT&T and Verizon Wireless winning bids accounted for $18.2 billion and $10.4 billion, respectively. The auction was held for Advanced Wireless Service licenses in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, and 2155-2180 MHz bands, 65MHz in all.

Sprint did not come forward for the bid because of not having complementary AWS spectrum. The commission has planned to auction broadcast TV spectrum in the 600MHz band in early 2016. T-Mobile may want to participate in this auction as it feels the need of some of this low-band spectrum to facilitate its network to cover long distances and penetrate building walls.