Google has made it officially clear that they are committed to making their wireless spectrum proposal win the FCC decision.

Google said they would bid $4.6 billion for the 700 megahertz band wireless spectrum, if the FCC approved their proposal. Why? Google said they want to put their money where their “principles are,” by making a bid at “giving abundant access to this rich resource” on “a global scale.” More coverage at Techmeme.

Postscript from Greg: A larger context in which to see this is net neutrality. Google is clearly interested in expanding its mobile services and this undoubtedly reflects that ambition but it’s also a hedge against non-net neutrality. Google could potentially build out a broader wifi network for general Internet access, using the spectrum licenses, which Google currently provides in Mountain View, California.

Related Topics: Google: Internet Access | Google: Mobile

About The Author: Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here. For more background information on Barry, see his full bio over here. See more articles by Barry Schwartz