 Google
mulls UHF spectrum
auction bid
Google could enter the bidding for UHF Radio Spectrum
(700 MHz) for wireless internet access.
From BBC News:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6908919.stm
Web search giant Google will take part in a US wireless spectrum auction
if the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adds a key condition.
Google will meet a bid level of $4.6bn (£2.24bn) - as long as auction
winners also have to offer services on a wholesale basis to third parties.
The move comes after the FCC floated a plan for the spectrum sale that
did not include the wholesale conditions.
Google had said the government should go further in promoting competition.
It comes after leading US phone firm AT&T backed an FCC plan that
would require the winner of the auction to make some of the airwaves accessible
using any device or software application.
But Google and some consumer groups had said the government should go
further in opening up the wireless business to competition.
Long distance
At present, wireless carriers routinely try to restrict which models
of cell phones that can be used on their networks.
They also often limit the software that can be downloaded onto them,
such as ringtones, music or web browser software.
On Thursday, AT&T said it thought FCC chairman Kevin Martin had "struck
an interesting and creative balance between the competing interests".
The airwaves are being sold in the 700-megahertz band and can travel
long distances and penetrate walls.
Google would like to see customers to be able to buy any mobile device
and be able to connect to a wireless network and have the full capability
of the internet.
Speaking to financial analysts after the release of their quarterly profits,
Google CEO Eric Schmidt said: "There is a direct connection between
the open interoperable network we are arguing for in the FCC filing and
so forth and the
usage of Google services."
Google has filed a document with the FCC calling on it to make sure that
under the rules of the spectrum auction, the networks up for grabs are
open.
InformationWeek
http://www.informationweek.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid
=SFW4AXB4TOE32QSNDLRSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID
=201200187&queryText=700+MHz
FCC Auctions Website
http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/default.htm?job=auctions_home
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