NEW YORK--Federal Communications Commission commissioner Jonathan Adelstein joined tech policy pundits, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists Tuesday to launch a new initiative aimed at making broadband a priority in the U.S.
The group, which calls itself InternetforEveryone.org, officially launched at Free Press' Personal Democracy Forum here. The main purpose of the new initiative is to help organize public support for a national broadband policy.
Vint Cerf, Google chief Internet evangelist; Tim Wu, Columbia University professor; and Jonathan Adelstein, FCC Commissioner, at the launch of InternetforEveryone.org.
(Credit: Marguerite Reardon/CNET News.com)Prominent figures in the tech world, including Google Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf, as well as law professors Larry Lessig of Stanford and Tim Wu of Columbia were on hand with Brad Burnham of the venture capital firm Union Square Ventures and Robin Chase, founder of Zipcar, to join Adelstein in becoming members of the group.
Adelstein, one of two Democratic commissioners on the FCC, has been a big proponent of a national broadband policy for some time. During his introduction, he admitted has been frustrated with the current administration's lack of focus on broadband. But he said he hopes this initiative will help provide a forum to allow the public's voice to be heard in Washington.
"We need to mobilize the public to make broadband an issue in D.C., so that broadband penetration and pricing rises to the top of the agenda," Adelstein said in an interview following the press conference. "It's important for us to make sure that the public's interests are served. We've already heard a lot from the cable and phone companies."
Broadband advocates have long complained that the U.S. is falling behind other countries in its ability to offer high-speed Internet service at affordable prices to all of its citizens.
Josh Silver of Free Press said during the press conference that the U.S. has slipped from 4th to 15th in the world in terms of broadband penetration. And he said that half the country doesn't subscribe to high-speed Internet. He and others in the group said it was time for a national policy framework to be established to ensure that government helps make broadband more accessible to people throughout the country.
But not everyone agrees that the U.S. is lagging in broadband or that a comprehensive national policy is even necessary. Verizon COO Denny Strigl said at the NxtComm trade show in Las Vegas said last week that it was a "myth" that the U.S. lagged behind other nations in high-speed Internet.
"It's time to put this myth to rest," Strigl said during a keynote speech. "What the communications industry has achieved in deploying broadband and mobile services is tremendous. And we've done this not through industrial policy, but through private investment delivering innovation. The benefits have rippled through the entire economy creating millions of high-tech jobs and billions of dollars in value."
Indeed, comparing the U.S. with other countries with much smaller geographies and populations is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. In much of the U.S., people have access to not just one broadband provider but two. And as Verizon deploys fiber directly to consumers' homes and AT&T upgrades its network to offer faster broadband and TV service to its customers, those companies have forced their cable competitors in those areas to increase speeds and in some places even lower prices.
So in many parts of the country, broadband competition is working. But the problem is that the competitive forces aren't working uniformly throughout the country. There are still pockets of the U.S., especially in rural areas, where broadband is only offered by one provider or by none at all. And prices per bit are still much higher than they are in other parts of the world.
"People have just accepted that bandwidth is something that American families will spend hundreds of dollars on per month," Columbia professor Tim Wu said. "People don't realize how much we pay for how little bandwidth we actually get."
Wu likened the broadband market to the energy market, saying bandwidth is a commodity controlled by a tiny cartel of phone companies and cable operators. He said that prices have been inflated and kept high, which has kept many people out of the broadband revolution.
"I agree that for most of the country, access to broadband is not the issue," he said in an interview. "But I'd say beyond that, the market has stalled. We need to make America a leader in broadband pricing and speeds. The attitude that it's just 'OK' to have access to DSL isn't good enough."
Members of the new "Internet for Everyone" initiative believe that a national broadband policy can help. That said, the group didn't announce support for any particular legislation nor is it backing a specific broadband policy proposal. But members of the group seem to agree that the reallocation of wireless spectrum should be a major component to any national policy.
Broadband advocates had hoped that the recent 700MHz spectrum auction, which reallocated spectrum that has been used for analog TV signals, would lay the foundation for a third national broadband provider. But at the conclusion of the FCC auction, it was incumbents, such as Verizon Communications, that came out the big winners in the auction, gobbling up key national licenses for spectrum.
"I think the commission missed a golden opportunity in the 700MHz spectrum auction to ensure there would be a third pipe into the home for broadband," Adelstein said in an interview.
The FCC is currently looking at freeing up more spectrum that could be used by new entrants to create new wireless broadband services, he added. One proposal on the table from a company called M2Z proposes that the FCC open up 25MHz of spectrum that could be used to build a free wireless network. Under the plan, the FCC would give the company access to spectrum for free. The company would build the network and fund the service through advertising. As part of the proposal, M2Z planned to give the FCC 5 percent of its gross revenue from the service.
The FCC originally dismissed the proposal, mostly because it asked the commission to allocate spectrum for free. But now the commission seems to be reconsidering it.
"Right now we are contemplating opening up about 20MHz of spectrum for free wireless broadband," Adelstein said in an interview. "There is a business plan on the table, so we will have to see what happens."
Another option for the FCC is to open up "white spaces", or the spectrum bands left vacant between broadcast TV channels.
Several companies, including Google and Microsoft, have been working on prototype devices that demonstrate that wireless devices can work within these bands without causing interference. But the broadcast TV industry has been opposed to any use of "white spaces." Still, broadband proponents see it as an important asset to be used in expanding the broadband market.
"Spectrum liberation in our time needs to be a priority for any national broadband policy," Wu said. "And the 'white space' spectrum is a good way to do that. It offers a ton of bandwidth."
The Federal Communications Commission on Friday formalized its plans to auction off a section of wireless spectrum to buyers who promise to provide free Internet service that filters out pornography and other inappropriate content, and offers open access to third-party devices and applications.
The agency is seeking public comment on the plan details, of which are posted here. Winning bidders of the 25 megahertz of spectrum in the 2155MHz band would also be required to provide free wireless coverage to at least half of the United States within four years, and to at least 95 percent of the population by the end of the 10-year license, according to Reuters and the FCC posting.
The plan could face opposition from wireless service providers, who have traditionally opposed any stipulations imposed on wireless spectrum auctions. CTIA, the trade organization representing the industry, has already filed comments with the commission urging it not to put requirements on the spectrum.
Given that free wireless Internet business models have yet to be proven successful, it could prove challenging for the FCC to find bidders willing to take on the above stipulations.
The Federal Communications Commission is considering a new plan that would require winners of an upcoming spectrum auction to provide free wireless Internet services.
The FCC could soon vote on a plan to auction off 25 megahertz of spectrum in the 2155MHz band of spectrum. As part of its plan, the commission would require the winner of those licenses to provide some free wireless Internet service.
The FCC sees the plan as a way to provide broadband Internet service to millions of Americans who either can't afford or don't want to pay for high-speed Internet access. Few details are known about what exactly the FCC is proposing, but word has it that it's similar to a plan proposed by M2Z Networks in 2006.
Under that plan, the FCC would give the company access to spectrum for free. The company would build the network and fund the service through advertising. As part of the proposal, M2Z planned to give the FCC 5 percent of its gross revenue from the service.
But the FCC didn't like that proposal, especially the part about giving spectrum away for free. So it's come up with its own proposal. Instead of giving away free spectrum licenses, it will auction the spectrum to the highest bidder and require the winning bidder to offer service on some its spectrum for free. The FCC will also require that the free service have content filtering in place to ensure that minors are not able to access adult Web sites.
Wireless service providers have traditionally opposed any stipulations imposed on wireless spectrum auctions. And the CTIA, the trade organization representing the industry, has already filed comments with the commission urging it not to put requirements on the spectrum.
"The commission should not require licensees to meet specific conditions, such as pricing plans, minimum data rates or content filtering," the CTIA wrote in a filing.
While the FCC's plan might be well-intended, I think it's unlikely that any company would spend the millions or even billions of dollars necessary to buy the spectrum, especially considering that it will take even more money to build and operate the network.
The advertising supported model sounds good on paper. But so far, it hasn't been proven to work. In fact, the failed citywide Wi-Fi projects all over the country have already proven that free wireless services don't work. EarthLink planned to only give some of its service away for free in some cities like San Francisco. But it offered "cheap" broadband in other cities. MetroFi built its whole business model on offering free Wi-Fi supported by advertising revenue.
EarthLink has since canceled plans to build its San Francisco network and now its dismantling networks in other cities, such as Philadelphia and New Orleans. Meanwhile, MetroFi is also looking for a way out of its citywide Wi-Fi business.
These companies weren't able to make the free model or even the inexpensive broadband model work, because networks are expensive to build and maintain. And unlike the bidders in this auction, these companies didn't have to pay for the spectrum they used to build the networks. I can't imagine many companies willing to make that kind of investment if they're required to offer even some of their service for free.
For this reason, I think it would be difficult for the FCC to find a bidder willing to take on the stipulations. This is exactly what happened in the most recent 700MHz spectrum auction. The FCC required bidders on the "D Block" of licenses to set aside a portion of that spectrum for public safety use. The only company even interested in the spectrum went out of business before the auction began, because it was unable to secure the necessary funding. In the end, the minimum bid on these licenses was never met, and the FCC is still trying to figure out how to rewrite the rules to attract bidders.
That said, the FCC has had some success in setting rules for new spectrum auctions. In the same 700MHz spectrum auction, the FCC required the winner of the C-Block licenses to build a network using this spectrum that is open to all devices and applications. Verizon Communications ended up paying $4.6 billion for the spectrum.
So in all fairness, the FCC may succeed in this endeavor. But ultimately, the success of this new plan will come down to whether or not the winning bidder will be able to come up with a business model that actually allows companies bidding on this spectrum to make money.
Google co-founder Larry Page was in Washington Thursday trying to strum up support to open unused broadcast TV spectrum to wireless devices.
Page came to D.C. to meet with Congressional leaders and the Federal Communications Commission to talk about allowing device manufacturers to design products that use spectrum known as "white space." This spectrum, which is in the 700MHz band of frequency, sits between analog TV channels and is not being used for anything more than a buffer between broadcast TV channels.
Google and other Silicon Valley companies have been lobbying the FCC and other lawmakers to free up this spectrum, which is ideal for sending data wirelessly over long distances and penetrating through walls. Some of the 700MHz spectrum has already been auctioned off by the FCC earlier this year. And companies such as Verizon Wireless, which won a big chunk of the spectrum, plan to use it to build a next generation wireless broadband network.
Page spoke in the morning at an event hosted by theWashington think tank, the New America Foundation. He emphasized that opening up the white space spectrum for unlicensed use could have a huge impact on the U.S. economy and economies throughout the world, if other countries adopted similar spectral policy. He also said that it made little sense for the U.S. to allow this resource to go unused.
"Spectrum isn't like water," he said. "If you don't use it, it's gone. You can't conserve it."
TV broadcasters have been the most vocal opponents of freeing unused analog spectrum. They contend that allowing wireless devices access to this spectrum could cause interference with some analog television broadcast channels.
Page argued that broadcasters are simply trying to keep the spectrum for themselves. And he said the fear of interference is overblown. He is convinced that radios can built that switch between different frequencies so that spectrum can be shared and interference can be avoided.
Currently Google has only five people working on the white space initiative, but if the FCC were to allow access to this spectrum on an unlicensed basis, Page said the company would pour hundreds of millions of dollars into figuring how best to use the spectrum.
Page highlighted the benefits of making more spectrum available, including using the unlicensed white spaces to extend the reach of Wi-Fi. Of course, Google also has its own motives for wanting more wireless spectrum in the market, and Page admitted the company's efforts were self-serving.
"For us 10 percent better connectivity in the U.S. translates into 10 percent more revenue," he said. "And that's a significant number for us."
WASHINGTON--A high-profile government auction earlier this year failed to attract enough private investment dollars for airwaves dedicated to a nationwide broadband network for emergency responders. On Wednesday, federal regulators began trying to resuscitate the idea.
At its monthly meeting, the Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted to begin accepting comments from the public on a wide range of questions about what to do with that chunk of the 700Mhz spectrum, which is scheduled to be vacated by analog TV broadcasters next February as part of the congressionally mandated switch to all-digital programming. The spectrum is considered valuable both for commercial operators and emergency workers because of inherent properties that allow it to propagate over long distances and penetrate walls.
Ever since the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, politicians have lamented the lack of interoperability among various emergency communications networks as a key obstacle in responding effectively to disasters that arise.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican, called Wednesday's action "the first step in a renewed effort to provide our nation's first responders with the broadband network they need and deserve."
The FCC first attempted to sell off the so-called "D" block of airwaves during a bigger auction that ultimately brought in a record $19.6 billion for the government when it concluded in March. In rules issued last summer, the regulators dictated that the license for the 10Mhz block would be set aside for creation of a nationwide public safety network, to be built through a "partnership" between the public and private sectors. Under that arrangement, public safety operators would have priority access to that spectrum in emergencies, but the winning commercial operator would also be allowed to use it on a secondary basis.
But the auction didn't come anywhere close to attracting the FCC's $1.3 billion reserve price. Frontline Wireless, the only major contender in that segment of the auction, went out of business without comment before the auction even began. Some analysts say that's because of the current economic downturn, aggravated by the FCC's failure to lay out clear enough expectations for the network and its private investors.
"Today all five of us are admitting we tried something and failed on it," Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell said at Wednesday's meeting.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Martin said the agency plans to move as quickly as possible to revise its rules and begin the new auction. He said he's not sure whether they'll be able to pull that off by the end of the year, which is what he had previously hoped, but he does hope for the licenses to be assigned before the digital television conversion.
The FCC order adopted Wednesday sets the stage for the new rules, asking for ideas about how to handle a wide range of issues, from whether the public-private partnership model is still a wise idea to what technical requirements the shared network should meet. The comment period will be open for 30 days, with another 15 days for replies to the initial wave of suggestions.
Some consumer advocacy groups and members of Congress have already expressed concerns about the fate of the public safety spectrum block and asked the FCC to investigate what caused the auction to fail.
The FCC said its goal is to provide as clear guidance as possible to potential bidders in hopes of avoiding another abysmal turnout. Martin, however, said he hadn't ruled out the idea of scrapping a public-private partnership and simply auctioning off the spectrum to the highest bidder without any requirements to build an emergency network, with Congress potentially directing those proceeds to fund a public safety network.
The two Democratic Commissioners, Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, said they would've preferred to see Congress dedicate federal funds to building such a network in the first place. But they said they were willing to give the public-private partnership approach another try, so long as it produces the same result.
"The longer we delay implementation of an interoperable broadband network, the more lives we put at risk," Adelstein said.
Google wants reassurance from Verizon Wireless that it will comply with open access rules that were part of the Federal Communications Commission's recent 700MHz auction.
Verizon Wireless was the winning bidder in the auction of an important sliver of spectrum licenses in the 700 MHz spectrum auction, which raised a record $19.6 billion for the U.S. Treasury. As part of the rules of the auction, the winner of the C-Block licenses is required to allow any device to connect to the network and is also required to allow any application to be downloaded on devices that use the network.
Verizon, which plans to use the new spectrum to build its 4G wireless broadband network, initially opposed the open access rules. And once the rules were adopted, it filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to find those conditions unlawful. It eventually withdrew its appeal after that court denied Verizon's request for an expedited review.
Google filed a petition with the FCC on Friday asking the agency to make sure that Verizon really plans to adhere to these rules before the FCC officially grants the company the licenses in the C-Block of the 700MHz auction.
"We want Verizon to acknowledge their responsibility to comply with the C-Block license conditions," said Richard Whitt, the Washington telecom and media counsel for Google who signed the petition. "In other words, we want them to live up to their side of the bargain. And we want their interpretation and implementation of the rule to be consistent with the spirit and intent in which the FCC adopted those rules."
Google, which also bid on the spectrum during the auction, was one of the main proponents of the open access rules and helped effectively lobby the FCC to include the rules as part of the auction.
Now that the auction is over, Google claims that it wants to make sure that Verizon will really comply with the rules so that software developers can begin working on new innovative applications. It wants Verizon to state publicly that it plans to adhere to all aspects of the open access rules, including a provision the company opposed in written and oral arguments to the FCC as well as in court papers filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals. Specifically, Google wants Verizon to say that it will allow any application to be downloaded on any device using the C-Block network.
Google contends that Verizon has argued previously that the rule should apply only to devices that consumers bring to the network and should not include devices that Verizon sells to its customers.
This reasoning appears to be similar to how Verizon has set up its Open Device Initiative, a program announced in November that will expedite the certification process for device makers to get new devices on Verizon's network. This program is separate from the 700MHz rules, but it could provide some insight into how the company interprets open access.
Whitt said that what Verizon is doing with the Open Device Initiative is commendable. He applauds the company's efforts to embrace openness as a business model, but he said that it's too early to tell if the initiative will live up to the rules that the FCC has mandated for C Block licenses in the 700MHz spectrum auction.
Verizon has not specifically said since the auction that it won't live up to its obligations under the rules of the auction. Whitt said that Google doesn't necessarily mistrust Verizon, but he said that the company is taking Ronald Reagan's advice to "trust but verify" that Verizon will do what's expected.
"We're not trying to delay the process," he said. "And we aren't trying to block Verizon from getting those licenses. What it comes down to is we want to make sure that Verizon Wireless acknowledges and accepts the conditions put on these licenses by the majority of the FCC."
According to FCC procedure, Verizon has an opportunity to file its reply to Google's petition within the next two weeks. A spokesman for the company said it would be doing that, but he didn't seemed alarmed by Google's petition.
"What a surprise," he said in an e-mail. "Google submits yet another regulatory filing to the Federal Communications Commission. Google's filing has no legal standing."
If Verizon responds to the petition and reiterates its position or decides not to address the issues, it will be up to the FCC to decide what it will do next. It is within the FCC's right to deny Verizon access to the licenses, Whitt said. But considering what is at stake, it's likely that won't happen. I'll be following this drama as it unfolds to see how Verizon responds.
Several Republican lawmakers accused Google of gaming the recent 700MHz spectrum auction, according to a Bloomberg report.
(Credit:
Congressman Fred Upton, R-Michigan.)
But Representative Fred Upton of Michigan said at a House telecommunications subcommittee hearing on Tuesday that those open-access requirements may have discouraged more companies from bidding on the spectrum, known as C block.
"Google was successful in gaming the system," Upton said. The requirements "were a social engineering" experiment by the FCC that prevented the agency from raising billions of dollars, he added.
Upton's sentiments were backed by Representatives Cliff Stearns of Florida and John Shimkus of Illinois, who wondered whether the FCC had been "duped" by Google.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told the lawmakers that the rules weren't designed to prevent any bidding, but to make sure that consumers had more choice on the network.
Google has admitted that while it was prepared to win the spectrum, its main goal in participating was to ensure that the open-access rules were adopted. Consumers will now be able to access Google services (and ads) and use Android-based mobile devices on the network.
"Consumers were the big winner in the auction, not any company," Google spokesman Adam Kovacevich said in a statement. "This auction generated not only a record amount for the U.S. treasury, but also historic new rights for wireless consumers as a direct result of Google's bidding. By any measure, that's a huge success for consumers, and we're proud of our role in helping make that happen."
Verizon executives on Friday said that a valuable chunk of newly purchased analog TV spectrum is a "transformative opportunity" that will let the company offer vastly faster wireless broadband service within the next three years.
In a conference call with investors on Friday morning, Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg and Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam opened up about their plans for 700Mhz spectrum obtained through a recently concluded Federal Communications Commission auction. Early word of the plans began trickling out Thursday night after a gag rule of sorts lifted.
"With the 700MHz C block, we're in a premier position to provide the fastest (network) and most complete footprint across the country," McAdam said.
In short, the company views the C block, a nationwide chunk of licenses subject to so-called "open access" rules, as a way to "supercharge" its strategy for rolling out a fourth-generation (4G) network using long-term evolution (LTE) technology. Verizon opted last November to go with that new wireless standard backed by GSM industry players, which will allow its customers to use the same mobile devices and applications globally.
The timeline for 4G roll-out at this point looks like this: Verizon Wireless has already begun LTE field trials and network testing with partners Vodafone and China Mobile this year and will work on finalizing standards. The company plans to select vendors, develop dual-mode devices, and begin network deployment in the second half of 2009, and to launch the network commercially in late 2010. National coverage is expected by 2011, a Verizon Wireless spokeswoman said after the call.
Acquisition of the nationwide C block and other 700Mhz spectrum licenses will also allow the company to fill in previously "thin spots" of coverage across the country, McAdam said. That's significant because doing so will provide the depth necessary to offer higher-bandwidth broadband services with download speeds as high as 75Mbps--a far cry from the 2-3Mbps maximum offered now--he added.
Verizon Wireless, along with AT&T, was one of the top spenders in the auction for airwaves that are capable of propagating longer distances and penetrating walls and other obstacles more easily. AT&T has also said it plans to use its network to deploy an LTE-based network.
In addition to the C block, Verizon snapped up licenses covering several key metropolitan areas, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, and Houston.
All told, the company spent about $9.3 billion, which was "what it expected to spend" on the spectrum, McAdam said.
"Going forward, there is really no urgency for us to do any spectrum purchases," the Verizon Wireless chief said. "We see a great opportunity to meet customers' needs as they change."
Companies bidding in the Federal Communications Commission's 700MHz spectrum auction are starting to talk.
The gag order that silenced those participating in the FCC's auction that ended last month was lifted late Thursday. Now companies are free to discuss their plans and strategies for bidding in the auction.
Verizon Wireless plans to use its newly won wireless spectrum licenses in the 700MHz auction to deliver 4G services, CTO Tony Melone told the wireless news site Unstrung.
Verizon Wireless paid nearly $10 billion for licenses in the C block, which are subject to a special FCC rule that requires the winner to allow any device to connect to a network using this spectrum. Verizon will use the spectrum to deploy a 4G network using long-term evolution (LTE) technology. The company expects to have an LTE service deployed in late 2009, the article quotes Melone as saying.
AT&T also said it plans to use the $6.6 billion worth of spectrum it bought in the B block to build a 4G network using LTE, according to RCRWirelessNews. The company will also use spectrum it won in the 2006 advanced wireless services (AWS) auction for the new network.
But the company doesn't plan to roll out the new network any time soon. According to RCR Wireless, AT&T's CTO doesn't expect the technology to be ready until 2012.
Other bidders in the auction have begun to talk, as well. Google, which had also been bidding on the C-block spectrum, said its main goal in bidding was to make sure the $4.6 billion reserve price was met so that the open-access rule would take effect. Richard Whitt, Washington telecom and media counsel, and Joseph Faber, corporate counsel for Google, wrote about Google's strategy on the company's Public Policy Blog on Thursday.
Cell phone chipmaker Qualcomm said it plans to use licenses it bought in the E block to provide more capacity for its mobile broadcast TV service called MediaFlo. Qualcomm spent a total of $558.1 million on licenses in the E block and a few licenses in the B block. The E-block licenses will expand MediaFlo coverage in areas such as Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.
And the B-block licenses, which cover parts of California and New Jersey, will be used for research and development.
Google says it participated in the recent wireless spectrum auction not with the goal to win, but to help drive bidding high enough to ensure that open-access rules it had pushed for would be adopted.
"Google's top priority heading into the auction was to make sure that bidding on the so-called 'C Block' reached the $4.6 billion reserve price that would trigger the important 'open applications' and 'open handsets' license conditions," Richard Whitt, Washington telecom and media counsel, and Joseph Faber, corporate counsel, wrote in a posting Thursday on Google's Public Policy Blog.
"We were also prepared to gain the nationwide C Block licenses at a price somewhat higher than the reserve price; in fact, for many days during the early course of the auction, we were the high bidder. But it was clear, then and now, that Verizon Wireless ultimately was motivated to bid higher (and had far more financial incentive to gain the licenses)," the entry said.
That confirms what CNET News.com and others had speculated about Google's strategy, but it is the first Google acknowledgment on the matter. Federal Communications Commission rules had prohibited Google from discussing its participation in the spectrum auction until Thursday.
Verizon was announced the winner of the 700MHz auction on March 20.
Last year, Google urged the FCC to adopt conditions requiring whoever operates the network to allow any device or application to connect to it. And now, Verizon will have to build and operate the network and open it up to others, including Google and devices running its Android mobile platform.
Google had vowed to bid at least $4.6 billion if the FCC adopted all four "openness" rules it was promoting, and even though only two were adopted, Google still honored its promise, the company says. In 10 of the bidding rounds, Google actually raised its bid, despite the fact that no one was bidding against them, to make sure bidding was "aggressive," according to the blog posting.
"We still believed it was important to demonstrate through action our commitment to a more open wireless world," the post says.
Going forward, Google will weigh in at the FCC when it implements rules for the C Block and as it moves forward on a D Block re-auction. The company also will continue advocating for opening up the vacant "white spaces" in the TV spectrum band for use by mobile broadband devices. In addition, Google will push for similar actions to bring the openness of the Internet to the wireless world in other countries.
