Google’s Bid for Open Airwaves and Universal Wireless Access
Hey Everybody,
Just wanted to share this story with you because I think that it is very cool. Google is an amazing company and this could be the leap that finally connects all of America to the Web. It could even be done completely ad-supported (in other words, free). We just have to hope that the US government is forward thinking enough.
By Eric Auchard and Peter Kaplan
SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Google Inc said on Friday that the company would bid on coveted airwaves to launch a U.S. wireless network, pitting it against established telecommunications players AT&T and Verizon.
The Internet leader said in a statement that it was ready to go it alone rather than rely on partners in bidding in the Federal Communications Commission-run auction of 700-megahertz wireless spectrum due to begin on January 24.
The Silicon Valley-based company said it would make its filing ahead of the FCC deadline on Monday for companies to declare their interest in joining the airwaves bidding.
“We believe it’s important to put our money where our principles are,” Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said. “Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today’s wireless world.”
Wall Street investors have reacted cautiously to Google’s latest move to expand beyond its core Web search and online advertising franchises, worried the potential upfront costs and eventual network build-out could exceed $10 billion.
But some analysts have speculated that Google was more interested in ensuring certain requirements for network openness and that it was bidding just to preserve those rules.
“The real question here is whether Google’s intent is to bid up to the reserve price and assure that the openness condition stays in place,” Stifel Nicolaus analyst Blair Levin wrote to investors. “Or is the real purpose to actually win?”
And despite the excitement surrounding a Google bid, Stifel Nicolaus said in a research note that it suspects Verizon will probably end up winning the auction for the C block spectrum.
Read the rest at: Reuters.
