It’s not over. A new bidder has emerged for the most attractive group of frequencies that the government is auctioning off, the C Block, which would allow for nationwide wireless service. The bid emerged through features of the byzantine auction rules the government has created. First, we’ll get to the bottom line. Then, for those who care, the details of the auction and how I come to these conclusions. The bidding now stands at $4.74 billion, slightly higher than the $4.71 billion bid Thursday. We know that there are at least two companies bidding. One presumably was Google, which said it would bid. Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, said the other is most likely Verizon, but it could be AT&T or some other company. The government keeps the names of the bidders secret until the end of the auction. One more broad point: The auction seems to be going well from the government’s point of view. Bidding is up to $18.8 billion. The most active bidding is in the B block a collection of licenses covering small geographic areas. This implies, Ms. Arbogast said, that much of the activity is by existing cellphone carriers […]