Google Succeeds in Push to Open Wireless Airwaves

Google Succeeds in Push to Open Wireless Airwaves

Jan. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc. succeeded in its push to force the winner of airwaves being sold by the U.S. government to open its network to any mobile device.

One bidder offered $4.71 billion for the biggest set of airwaves being auctioned, surpassing a $4.6 billion threshold that triggered so-called open access rules, the Federal Communications Commission said today on its Web site. The agency didn't reveal which company made the bid.

Google, owner of the most-popular Internet search engine, is among 214 companies participating in the auction. The open- access provisions aim to boost consumer choice by requiring the winner of the so-called C-block airwaves to let any legal wireless handset or program use the network. The C-block comprises about a third of the auctioned spectrum.

Opening the network to more devices would help Mountain View, California-based Google sell more advertising on phones by expanding consumers' access to mobile Web content.

AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless are among the companies vying for the 1,099 slices of spectrum, which will become available when television broadcasters switch to digital signals in February 2009.

Google and Verizon Wireless are likely bidders for the C- block, Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst Blair Levin said today in a note.

``We know that the C-block will have a winner, and that the open-access conditions will be triggered, but we cannot know now who that winner is,'' Levin said.

Mobile Internet

The airwaves are ideal for mobile Web access because they can travel long distances and easily pass through walls. Wireless carriers plan to use the spectrum to offer more high- speed data services, such as video and music downloads.

Total auction revenue rose 7.1 percent to $13.7 billion in the latest bidding round. The FCC plans to hold three more rounds today. The highest offers are announced after each round, though not the names of bidders. The final winning bids will be revealed after the auction ends.

Google spokesman Adam Kovacevich and Verizon Wireless spokesman Jeffrey Nelson declined to comment, citing FCC rules that bar participants from discussing the auction.

Google rose $2.03 to $550.30 at 12:34 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. AT&T gained 7 cents to $37.42 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Verizon Communications Inc., which owns Verizon Wireless with Vodafone Group Plc, advanced 13 cents to $38.37.

BLOOMBERG