The US Federal Communications Commission approved a plan to allow unlicensed broadcast TV spectrum to be used by companies to create wireless broadband services that amount to “WiFi on steroids.” This was a hotly contested issue, with tech and electronics companies like Google, HP, Microsoft, Intel, Dell and Motorola, among a number of others, lining […]
The US 700MHz auction is now over; the winners were announced yesterday. The spectrum is becoming available as television broadcasters make the mandated switch to digital signals in early 2009. The big winners (no surprises here) were US carriers Verizon and AT&T. Verizon bid more than $9 billion and won the coveted “C block,” as […]
The US Federal Communications Commission has approved 214 “qualified bidders” for the forthcoming 700MHz wireless spectrum auction. Among the bidders are Google and wireless carriers AT&T, Verizon, and MetroPCS. According to this Bloomberg report, the government expectation is that the spectrum licenses may raise as much as $15 billion.
When the applications were submitted to the FCC to bid in the forthcoming 700MHz wireless spectrum auction, it appeared that there were going to be a handful of major bidders: Verizon, AT&T, Cox Communications, Frontier Wireless, MetroPCS, and Google. In fact, there were 266 would-be bidders that submitted applications, although the FCC accepted only 96 […]
Much has been written about Google’s efforts to bid on and open the wireless spectrum in the U.S. Now, according to the Guardian newspaper (as spotted via MarketWatch), Google is considering something very similar in the UK, as regulators propose that existing mobile operators (Vodafone and Telefonica) relinquish part of the spectrum they now use. […]
How you view the story in today’s Wall Street Journal depends on how cynical you are. The story, “Firm Seeks FCC Review of Free Internet-Service Plan,” is about a company called M2Z Networks that wants to build a wireless broadband ISP using vacant wireless spectrum to provide free Internet access with national reach. The company […]
A coalition of companies that includes Microsoft, Google, Intel and Dell were recently rebuffed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in their combined effort to offer wireless Internet access on unused portions of the nation’s television airwaves, so-called “white space.” The FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) found that the coalition’s hardware failed […]
According to a Dow Jones report, prototype devices from Google, Microsoft and a coalition of companies that includes Philips, Intel and Dell failed an initial test that might have allowed the group to offer wireless internet and potentially other services on “unused portions of the nation’s television airwaves.” The Federal Communications Commission’s Office of Engineering […]
AT&T, Verizon oppose Google airwave proposal from the Seattle Times reports that the two U.S. telecom giants, AT&T and Verizon, are opposing Google’s wireless airwave proposal. AT&T and Verizon told the Federal Communications Commission that Google has “no legitimate basis” in their proposal to have the government auction off the airwaves. The telecom companies believe […]
Google’s novel idea for FCC radio spectrum auction from USA Today reports Google has put in a proposal to the FCC urging the agency to allow companies to sell radio spectrum through an auction process to others.
Both the Seattle PI and the Seattle Times have details about a group of technology companies — including Microsoft and Google — seeking permission from the US Federal Communications Commission to test a prototype device that uses "white space" radio spectrum freed up as TV stations go digital. Could it potentially be a way for […]