Google to Bid on 700 MHz Frequency Spectrum

First a bit of history. Over-the-air broadcast television uses three different blocks of frequencies. Fortunately, someone was very bright many years ago to just use channel numbers. Otherwise you would say that The Office is on 55.25 MHz every Thursday evening. Initially, television frequencies were going to be licensed well into the 800 MHz range(Channel 83). That space eventually became cellular telephone and emergency communications spectrum. Because there are relatively few television stations compared to the number of available channels, the FCC has decided that the stations could be squeezed into a smaller number of channels. Any station currently broadcasting on stations 55 to 69 are being moved to lower channel numbers. At the same time the stations can convert to digital to enhance our viewing pleasure with high-definition television. That is why you see the big push for HDTV. Television stations currently broadcast on their new channels and old channels. As of February 2009, they will exclusively broadcast on their digital channels.

Ultimately, the FCC is going to auction off these empty frequencies for wireless services and make billions of dollars of revenue for the federal government. You now see why the government has gotten behind this move. It is not so that I can watch Maria Sharapova in the U.S. Open in high definition.

These frequencies are in high-demand by many carriers, companies, and interests. The reason is that the lower the frequency the easier it is for a signal to penetrate buildings and other obstructions. These frequencies are much lower than current wireless telephone spectrum.

It was conventional wisdom that the big wireless providers such as Verizon and AT&T would be involved in the auction. The surprise is that Google also wants to be involved in the auction. Google did approach the FCC with some requirements including that the spectrum would be “open applications, open devices, open networks, and open services”. FCC has agreed to most of Google’s demands, so it looks like they will be involved in the auction slated for January 16, 2008. Google and the other bidders will need to post 4.6 billion dollars each for the right to bid on the one of 1,099 licenses.

What does Google plan to do with the spectrum if they win some licenses in the auction? No one outside of Google seems to know. There is much speculation that they could get into the Internet service provider business or even the wireless telephone business. We will have to wait and see.