Google has officially announced that it will bid in the 700 MHz spectrum auction, which is scheduled to take place in late January. The FCC will require the winning bidder of a slice of the upper C-Block spectrum to allow any application and any device on its network. Google has said it is happy with these open-access provisions [1] despite not getting everything it wanted when it lobbied the FCC for open access.
"We believe it's important to put our money where our principles are," Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt said in a statement. "Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today's wireless world. No matter which bidder ultimately prevails, the real winners of this auction are American consumers who likely will see more choices than ever before in how they access the Internet."
The question is: How aggressive is Google going to be, especially now that Verizon Wireless has declared that it will open its network to outside devices and applications [2]?
For more on Google's intent to bid:
- read this press release [3]:
Related articles:
- Google may go it alone on bid [4]
- Google readies bid [5]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/google-were-happy-auction-rules/2007-10-19
[2] http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/will-verizons-foray-open-access-change-googles-plans/2007-11-29
[3] http://www.fiercewireless.com/press-releases/google-will-apply-bid-700-mhz-auction
[4] http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/spotlight-google-may-go-it-alone-on-700-mhz-bid/2007-11-16
[5] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/google-readies-spectrum-auction-bid/2007-11-19?utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss