Google comes clean on 700 MHz bid

Google today confirmed it will bid in the Federal Communications Commission’s upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction, a move that was expected but that had become fuzzier in recent weeks as the wireless industry moved toward the more open network approaches Google advocated.

In a statement, Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said Google was putting its “money where our principles are.”

"Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today's wireless world,” Schmidt said. “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 deadline for participating in the auction is Monday. Google’s application is a solo bid -- it does not include any partners. It remains to be seen how aggressively Google will compete for the available license – though it certainly has the cash available.

In a blog post, Chris Sacca, Google’s head of special initiatives, stressed that Google’s interest remains in seeing at least a portion of the available spectrum to be used on an “open access” basis. “The eventual winner of a key portion of this spectrum will be required to give its customers the right to download any application they want on their mobile device and the right to use any device they want on the network (assuming the C Block reserve price of $4.6 billion is met in the auction),” Sacca wrote. “That's meaningful progress in our ongoing efforts to help transform the relatively closed wireless world to be more like the open realm of the Internet.”

Earlier this week, Verizon Wireless – which had battled Google’s open access plans in the past – announced plans to voluntarily open up its network to any application or device. That move was seen in some quarters as a bidding tactic aimed at complicating Google’s 700 MHz plans.

All bidders are expected to be announced by the FCC by mid-December, with interested companies required to make a deposit by no later than Dec. 28. The spectrum auction begins on Jan. 24.

By mid-December, the FCC will release a public list of eligible bidders. Each bidder must make a deposit no later than Dec. 28, depending on the licenses they bid on. The more spectrum blocks an applicant bids on, the greater the deposit, Sacca wrote.

Just this week, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson reiterated his company’s interest in the spectrum, calling it “beachfront property.”