700-MHz Radio Spectrum Auction: FCC to Lay Down the Rules

The FCC has announced its intent to issue regulatory guidelines to handle the auction of the 700 MHz band radio spectrum. The 700-MHz spectrum is currently being used by analog television. With broadcast television going digital, the spectrum would now be free to handle the increasing demands set by wireless communication. The auction would be conducted for the purpose of handling the recent upsurge in wireless communication.

The 700-MHz spectrum would be able to carry signals that have the capability to penetrate concrete and beam through walls and floors. That such a powerful spectrum is available for use has caught the interest of the telecom majors. Companies who have expressed an interest include telecom giants like AT&T and Verizon Communications (VZ) as well as Google, the Internet search company.

The auction itself is slated to happen only sometime in January 2008. However, the lobbying has already begun. Google has been on the move, getting its team of approximately a dozen people to face off against lobbyists from the telecom industry in Washington.

How much Google can achieve with its lobbying remains to be seen. Google’s lobbying budget has not been much to talk about so far. Its lobbying budget for 2006 was a mere $700,000. Compare this with Verizon’s $14.4 million and AT&T’s $21 million and the significance of its smallness hits home.

Google is basing its arguments on the need for using the spectrum for open networking. Open networking ensures the consumer is not limited in terms of the devices and applications that the network would allow them to use. This is where the Internet giant may face opposition from the telecom industry.

While AT&T and Verizon have extended some level of support when it comes to open networks, they also have invested billions of dollars to set up the infrastructure for the currently existing wireless networks. Given that this network has also helped consumers by introducing innovations and lowering prices, there is speculation they would not be too keen to support Google’s approach fully.

Republican Kevin Martin, who is the chairman of FCC, gave an indication of which way the FCC would lean, saying the auction would be an opportunity for a third broadband pipe to surface in the country. The two currently existing broadband pipes are cable and DSL.

According to Martin, it all depended on the way the commission structured the auction. If not done the right way, the nation could miss a very good opportunity, he said, indicating the FCC itself may be in favor of openness.