Google Promises $4.6 Billion Bid for Wireless Broadband Spectrum

In a post on their official blog today, Google announced that they would promise a minimum bid of $4.6 billion at the upcoming auction for the 700-MHz wireless broadband spectrum.  The minimum bid, they say, is to stand behind a set of recommended guidelines for the auction which they submitted last week for consideration by the Federal Communications Commission - the government organization behind the sale of the spectrum.  As it stands now, the FCC is currently evaluating draft rules for the auction.

The auction to which Google is referring is of the 700-MHz spectrum currently being used by analog/over-the-air TV.  If you are one of the few Americans left who have yet to sell their soul and acquire cable or satellite television, odds are you get your news and local information on your TV by use of this wireless spectrum.  In an effort to free up this spectrum for other uses, the government decided to set a deadline for the end of analog TV: February 17th, 2009.  After this date, a portion of this spectrum will be used for “advanced wireless and public safety services (for example, police, fire departments, and rescue squads).“  The other portion, on which multi-billion dollar companies, such as Google, can bid, is what will be presented at auction.

Explaining what they aim to accomplish with the recommended rules they’ve sent to the FCC, Chris Sacca, Head of Special Initiatives at Google, writes:

In the U.S., wireless spectrum for mobile phones and data is controlled by a small group of companies, leaving consumers with very few service providers from which to choose. With that in mind, last week, as the federal government prepares for what is arguably its most significant auction of wireless spectrum in history, we urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt rules to make sure that regardless of who wins the spectrum at auction, consumers’ interests are the top priority. Specifically, we encouraged the FCC to require the adoption of four types of “open” platforms as part of the auction:

• Open applications: consumers should be able to download and utilize any software applications, content, or services they desire;
• Open devices: consumers should be able to utilize their handheld communications device with whatever wireless network they prefer;
• Open services: third parties (resellers) should be able to acquire wireless services from a 700 MHz licensee on a wholesale basis, based on reasonably nondiscriminatory commercial terms; and
• Open networks: third parties (like Internet service providers) should be able to interconnect at any technically feasible point in a 700 MHz licensee’s wireless network.

As numerous public interest organizations noted earlier this week, all four of these conditions adopted together would promote a spirit of openness, and could spur additional forms of competition from web-based entities, such as software applications providers, content providers, handset makers, and ISPs. The big winners? Consumers. As choices increase, prices come down and more Americans have access to the Net.

The FCC is currently considering draft rules for the auction, and the reports we’ve heard are that those rules include some — but not all four — of the openness conditions that we and consumer groups support. While any embrace of open platforms is welcome, only if the FCC adopts all four principles will we see the genuinely competitive marketplace that Americans deserve. In particular, guaranteeing open services and open networks would ensure that entrepreneurs starting new networks and services will have a fair shot at success, in turn giving consumers a wider choice of broadband providers.

Of course, this isn’t a new interest of Google’s.  The company, whose mission “is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” has long been a proponent of open broadband.  As for which of the four guidelines above the FCC could potentially be excluding from consideration, our guess is #2 and #4.  We here at Fans of Tech are curious to know what you think of the situation: drop a comment or e-mail us your thoughts at suggest [at] fansoftech.com.

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