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December 3, 2007, 5:07 pm

Mixed wireless signals out of Google

By Stephanie Mehta 

In case you missed it, today marks the deadline for submitting paperwork to the Federal Communications Commission for bidding in the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction. Search-engine giant Google (GOOG) says it will participate, and analysts expect competing bids from Verizon Wireless — a joint venture of Verizon (VZ) and Vodafone (VOD) — and AT&T (T).

Google certainly has the financial firepower to make a winning bid. (The FCC essentially has set opening bids for the “C” block of licenses at $4.6 billion) But is Google in this auction to make a point, or is the company in it to win it?

We’re certainly seeing some strange body language out of Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. On the one hand, you’ve got Chris Sacca, head of special initiatives at Google, blogging last week that “regardless of which bidders ultimately win the auction, consumers will be the real winners…” Not exactly the posturing of a company that plans to do whatever it takes to grab the spectrum. Lynette Luna at Fierce Broadband Wireless predicts the wireless incumbents will prevail in the upcoming 700 MHz bidding.

And yet Google certainly has been ramping up its activities in the wireless arena lately, with its Open Handset Alliance and new location-based, GPS-like application for cell phone users.

Phil Asmundson, who heads up Deloitte & Touche’s technology, media and entertainment group,  is among those who think Google is playing for keeps. Sure, Google isn’t a phone company today, but, he says, Google owns “more dark fiber than any one else in the U.S.” (Dark fiber is fiberoptic cable that has been installed, but has not been “lit” with the necessary telecom equipment to transmit data and calls.) Asmundson adds: “It has a network that could lit relatively easily, and become a telecom company overnight.”

“I do think if you are an established player, you have to take Google seriously.”

Techland readers, what do you think: Is Google bidding in the upcoming spectrum auction with the ambition of becoming an alternative wireless operator, or has it already “won” by forcing the bidders to adhere to certain “open access” conditions, and by getting companies such as Verizon to announce plans to open its network to unlocked wireless devices?

GO GOOGLE!.. I hope Google changes the landscape – this time for the betterment of the consumer. It’s high time the consumer was given the longer end of the stick rather than being stuck with out of date rules and regulations by the larger telecoms.

Posted By Anonymous, Seattle, WA : December 4, 2007 4:47 pm

Stephanie,
you should check some facts before writing your blog. Phil Asmundson doesn’t know what he is talking about. Google can’t be a telecom player overnight. Does Phil know how long it takes to turn up a network between two cities let alnoe the country.
Next time please do check some facts before quoting XYZ from Deloitte.
Google can’t become a telco, th only interest they have is to be accessable to the consumers when they browse the net from their smartphones. They don’t want the big telcos intervention while browsing the net.
Google wants an open standard so its in the bidding. They can make a software platform for phone , but they cannnot run the wireless network , atleast in near future.

Posted By bp, rocvkville,md : December 4, 2007 10:46 am

Google has acheived nothing, Verizon announced that it would open its network, they didn say how much they would charge for one to access the network, I imagine the price will be steep enough to keep most people teathered to Verizon’s closed network. And as far as Google running its own network…Please… Google is not going to become a wireless carrier, they don’t have the expertise or the resources to compete with for such an undertaking. The only thing that Google has or will acheive is to make a mockery of the FCC.

Posted By Sal, Madison NJ : December 4, 2007 9:25 am

Google has a model that is based on using the highway for free. If one day the Highway is no longer free, is it cheaper to build and maintain their own highway? If so, then their stock price will drop, as their model has totally changed, and their stock will tank to a PE of 12. Gogle needs to chill, look waht happened to microsoft shares.

Posted By Billy, NYC : December 4, 2007 9:20 am

Well, Google is in and is in to win. I strongly believe that they can change the very concept cell phone usage and wireless communication in general. Look what Apple’s iPhone did to the conventional cell phone. Similarly, Google is about to redefine the NW operations altogether. Check it out by January!

Posted By Roy Mathew, Columbia, MD : December 4, 2007 1:37 am

Google is just talking from the a$$. Yes Google has the financial prowess today, but it could disappear overnight and fall back to earth. Google has no experience, nor a customer base in the telecom arena. Google could have started getting into telecom industry by purchasing Skype, but they let it go to e-bay, which yet again has no clue about that industry… and you see the results of it today. Google can achieve the same kind of “success” getting into this industry. The best Google can do to entice customers is to give away the Google Phone for free, and sink a few billion $ down the drain. Just because you have the money, dosent necessarily mean you can have everything.

Posted By Mahesh, Atlanta : December 3, 2007 10:47 pm

Phil! You work for who? Fiber is cheap. That is probably less than 1% of the cost of a wireless network. Towers, radios, real estate, regulations, customer service, operations, maintenance, and on and on.

Come on!

Google is not serious about being a telephone operator, or investors beware.

Posted By Rick, Dallas TX : December 3, 2007 10:40 pm

Google will bid, in a tokenism fashion, to show they’re out there and to save face. They know they can achieve great things by “renting” existing and future networks from current providers. It’s not just the cost of procuring spectrum, it’s the thousands of employees it takes to run it. They don’t need to have that liability on their balance sheet as well as the years it would take to get up to speed to compete profitably.

Verizon & AT&T are well oiled machines that need the 700MHz to finish the canvas they started to paint years ago. Ivan Seidenberg is the “Whizkid” of the industry ie: FIOS and demanding quality throughout VZ. The dummies who write their BLOGS remind me of the Fulton Steamboat example. When the boat was docked, the crowds chanted “it will never work”. As the boat pulled away, they chanted “it will never stop”. Ivan is a visionary that will not roll over and play dead for this last chance to get spectrum. Hold onto your hat !!

Posted By Herb Hoffman, Bryn Mawr, PA : December 3, 2007 10:36 pm

Unbelievable – you should ask Asmundson if he has any Google positions. He must, because he obviosuly doesn’t come close to understanding what it takes to be a phone company with comments like “It has a network that could lit relatively easily, and become a telecom company overnight.” Where do these people come from?

Posted By Richard Indianapolis, IN : December 3, 2007 9:59 pm

Google can not be under-estimated. But i think when they first gave the statement of entering into wireless territory, it was a move to unsettle big players. But after so much of media hoopla, i believe even they are thinking along these lines. There is no doubt that they have the resources to make it work but are they willing?
I am sure the senior management is currently pondering upon it? To me, they are better off not flirting with this domain.

Posted By Yogi, Los Angeles, CA : December 3, 2007 9:54 pm

Please please lets hope someone besides the incumbents wins this bid. Maybe the US can get out of the stoneage of wireless communications then.

Posted By James Las vegas, NV : December 3, 2007 9:46 pm

Ultimately Google will benefits. If Google is in the bidding and win the auction it will definitely help to speed up the process of bring the end- user to the next era of wireless communication and advertisement!

Posted By jt, CA : December 3, 2007 6:33 pm

Google has already acheived its main objectives!
Look at the Verizon announcement from last Tuesday Nov27th:
http://prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=ind_focus.story&STORY=/www/story/11-27-2007/0004711790&EDATE=TUE+Nov+27+2007,+07:30+AM

Posted By Paul Carew, Austin, TX : December 3, 2007 5:48 pm
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