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Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/31/700mhz_band_will_be_open/

Secret bidder delivers 'open access' to US airwaves

And Eric Schmidt will die in 2039

By Cade Metz

Posted in Broadband, 31st January 2008 19:21 GMT

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As the US Federal Communications Commission auctions off the coveted 700-MHz "C Block" - a prime portion of the American airwaves - bidding has topped $4.6bn. And that's a key number.

$4.6bn is the "reserve price" for the C Block, and now that the FCC has at least that much in hand, we can be sure this juicy slice of wireless spectrum will include an "open access" requirement - a much-discussed clause that says the winning bidder must allow access to any device and any application.

What we don't know is which bidder triggered the open access clause. This is a secret auction. But we're guessing it was Google.

Google was one of the loudest voices calling [1] for open access, and at one point, the world's largest search engine said [2] it was prepared to lay down the full $4.6bn.

Bidding passed the reserve price this morning, in round seventeen of the FCC auction, when the C Block price hit $4.7bn. There were no bids during the previous three rounds, as the price stagnated at $4.3bn.

Chances are, Google is battling Verizon [3] for the rights to 700-MHz C Block, but some Reg readers believe that AT&T [4] will make a play as well. When it comes to the 700-MHz band, AT&T has been much quieter than Verizon over the past several months, but like Verizon, it recently made a point of saying [5] it adores open access. When AT&T starts behaving like that, you know something's up.

Of course, Verizon has acted in even more ridiculous ways. First, it threw a US appeals court [6] at the FCC, tying to get the open access requirement removed. Then it said it's current network would be open by the end [7] of the year.

If AT&T or Verizon wins the C Block, we question how open the airwaves will truly be. But one thing's for sure: Whoever wins the block, they'll be prone to ridiculous behavior.

Example? Sure.

According to an interview in Fortune [8], Google's head honchos - co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and CEO Eric Schmidt - have promised to be business buddies until 2024.

Fortune: "Will you all work at Google for the rest of your careers?"

Schmidt: "We agreed to work together for how long, gentlemen?"

Brin: "Twenty years."

Fortune: "Really? When did you make that agreement?"

Schmidt: "Two years, seven months, and four days ago. But who's counting? Actually, we agreed the month before we went public that we would work together for 20 years. I will be 69, and according to Google I'm going to live to 84, so I should be fine."

So, the US airwaves may soon be in the hands of a company that claims to know when people are going to die. ®