The FCC today announced the results of its recent 3.5GHz spectrum auction, and most of the US carriers came away with new spectrum licenses.

Verizon was the biggest spender in the FCC's auction of 3.5GHz spectrum, also known as CBRS. The big red carrier dropped a cool $1.89 billion on 557 licenses in 157 counties.

While Verizon isn't saying much about its new spectrum right now, these airwaves should be useful in helping it to expand its 5G network. It can cover longer distances than the high-band millimeter wave spectrum Verizon currently uses for its 5G network, and it offers a speed boost over the low-band 5G that Verizon will launch later this year, which is slower but is best for traveling long distances and penetrating buildings.

Dish Network was also a big player in the FCC's auction. Bidding under the name "Wetterhorn Wireless", Dish spent a total of $912.9 million on 5,492 licenses, which is by far the most purchased by a single bidder.

T-Mobile came away with a relatively small number of licenses, acquiring just 8 licenses and spending $5.58 million on them. T-Mo did just get quite a bit of mid-band spectrum as part of its merger with Sprint, though, so it didn't necessarily need to buy a bunch of licenses in this auction.

AT&T also participated in the FCC's spectrum auction, but it didn't wind up with any licenses.