FCC Vote Partly Opens 700 MHz Band

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted yesterday on rules that will govern the upcoming auction of the 700 Mhz radio spectrum band, and camedown…firmly on the fence.   Under the rules, people would be able to use any mobile phone and software on networks taking up about one-third of the spectrum to be auction. This is apartial victory for Google, which had been lobbying to have the auction winner sell access to its network on a wholesale basis to other companies. The searchauction giant, which is rapidly expanding everywhere, including possibly the cell phone market, had favored the rule change as a way to speed innovation and competition in the cell phone industry.  The auction for the band is expected to bring up to $15 billion into government coffers, has to begin by January 28 next year. The 700 Mhz band (which actually runs from 698 – 806 Mhz)is being made available for new wireless digital services by broadcasters who are moving to digital TV transmission by the beginning of 2009.   Although the language of the result hasn’tbeen made public, it would seem that any company that wins the spectrum will be forced to leave it open for devices it doesn’t control. It doesn’t affect the existing spectrum.  Google and others had been very vocal recently in support of the creation of an open-access wireless network, and to allow the new spectrum owner to sell portions of it wholesale to other companies,which would take control away from traditional carriers. As it stands, two of the four openness standards proposed by Google were adopted.   “The Federal Communications Commission madereal, if incomplete, progress for consumers this afternoon,” said Richard Whitt, Google’s Washington telecommunications and media counsel.