FCC To Rule On Wireless Auction Where Google Seeks To Open Market

[DudeAsInCool]

The Federal Communications Commission will set the rules tomorrow governing the auction of $15 billion of public airwaves, a decision with stakes so high that the major U.S. cellular carriers and Google have spent millions of dollars on a lobbying campaign in an attempt to influence the outcome. The decision could dramatically alter the nation's cellphone industry.

Google, the giant Internet search company, wants to extend its popular tools, which include e-mail and video, to the rapidly expanding mobile phone market. To do so, it may spend billions to build a new, open network it says will loosen the grip telecom operators have over how consumers use their cellphones.

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[Matt Rendo]

Good luck to Google!

I think it will be good for Google to win in this thing. The airwaves could be put to good use.

[DudeAsInCool]

Good luck to Google!

I think it will be good for Google to win in this thing. The airwaves could be put to good use.

Me, too. I'm getting an IPhone soon...and I have no interest in working with ATT.

[Matt Rendo]

I don't blame you there. Then again, even if Google wins, it could be months or longer before anything was set in place.

[DudeAsInCool]

Update - The FCC Gives Google A Partial Victory:

The Federal Communications Commission moved cautiously Tuesday toward creating a more open national wireless broadband network, handing a partial victory to Google, which was pushing for more competition in cellphone services.

The agency approved rules for an auction of broadcast spectrum that its chairman, Kevin J. Martin, said would promote new consumer services. The rules will let customers use any phone and software they want on networks using about one-third of the spectrum to be auctioned.

The F.C.C. did not approve a provision that would have required the winner of the auction to sell access to its network on a wholesale basis to other companies. Google favored the rule as a way to hasten competition and innovation in the cellphone industry, a market it is considering.

Read More at the NYTimes