FCC Won't Sign Off On Google's Vision Wholesale open access just isn't happening... As we just got done predicting, it appears the FCC will be rejecting Google's open access demands for the upcoming 700Mhz spectrum auction. Google had promised to invest $4.6 billion at auction if the FCC forced auction winners to offer wholesale access to broadband competitors. Google has been arguing the spectrum is the last great chance for broadband competition in a duopoly market. "But a key point Martin, a Republican, would not support, and that Google insists on, is a rule forcing whoever wins the spectrum at the auction to wholesale parts of it to other companies who want to resell it." Shocking. While Google may be new to lobbying, they knew this current FCC would never sign off on their plan fully, which made the promise of billions in investment largely empty (though helpful politically). Why doesn't Google just jump in under current rules? The system is designed so they'll lose to incumbents, they argue in a new blog post.  While Google embraces the kinds of openness and innovation that are the hallmark of the Internet, the incumbents apparently prefer their existing business models. -Google's Richard Whitt |
"Our position is simple enough. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and the other commissioners have argued persuasively that we need a real third pipe broadband competitor in this country. They also believe that the upcoming 700 MHz auction is the best way to get there. All we are saying is that, based on what we know, new broadband competition will emerge from the upcoming auction only if the FCC's rules allow it to happen. For Google, and other potential new entrants, the prevailing imbalance can be corrected most effectively by introducing license conditions based on open platforms." However, the closest to "open platforms" the FCC is willing to get is to force auction winners to offer unlocked devices on any network using the new spectrum. The chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Rep. Edward Markey, is urging the FCC to go further if they want true broadband competition.
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  extreme50Formerly TwoKDialupPremium
join:2002-06-07
Coloma, MI | Maybe... we should just give Google the spectrum and $44 Billion in USF funds and see what kind of a network they can build.
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|  |  jgkoltPremium
join:2004-02-21
Lakewood, OH | Re: Maybe... along with thier data mining techniques and that money should prove to be interesting
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 Romney2012Defeat Obama 2012-Chg we can believe inPremium
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USA
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1 edit |  FCC Majority Behind Open Access
A majority of the Federal Communications Commission told a House subcommittee that they support an "open access" requirement on one swath of airwaves that will be auctioned early next year.
A broader open access provision, however, supported by Google, received limited support from the two Democrats on the commission and was opposed by Martin.
The two Democrats on the commission supported Martin's limited open-access provision while Martin's fellow Republicans said they were undecided.
The auction has yet to be scheduled but is required by law to take place by Jan. 28, 2008. The commission could vote on the rules as early as next week.
If the full commission votes to include the special provisions on the 22 megahertz spectrum slice subject to the open-access provision, the licenses would have to attract a minimum $4.6 billion bid. If the minimum bid is not met, the conditions would be stripped and the spectrum would be re-auctioned. Martin siding with the 2 Dems on the FCC. Now that is a surprise.
And the fact that there is a MINIMUM bid of $4.6 billion or the open access provisions would be stripped is interesting too. Wasn't Google's stated bid amount $4.6 billion. Coincidence? Which came 1st? The minimum amount or Google's bid? Is the fix in for Google?
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| |  Subaru1-3-2-4Premium
join:2001-05-31
Greenwich, CT | Re: FCC Majority Behind Open Access I'm sure it came after google. | |
| | | | | Re: FCC Majority Behind Open Access You're surely wrong.
The draft order included a $4.6B reserve price; Schmidt referenced it in his letter and committed to bid $4.6B. | |
| | | | Subaru1-3-2-4Premium
join:2001-05-31
Greenwich, CT | Re: FCC Majority Behind Open Access so? google will offer more money and the FCC will say Oh we ment to say $8.6 billion | |
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| Google simply is trying to rig the Auction. Instead of competing with other companies Google want to jump ahead of the line by running a scam by offering to pay the reserve bid if the FCC agree to their open access rules. These rules are simply design deter the competition mainly the telecoms from bidding against them. Also by taking the auction off the table if any telecoms want to use the spectrum it will be Google's way or the high way.
Google has been playing the net activist like a fiddle with Neutrality and this auction. If Google cannot buy a company, they will buy politicians instead.
There is an ok article by Holman W. Jenkins Jr who edits Political Diary in the WSJ today. Also the Wall Street Journal Opinion Board has been doing a good job of keep up and exposing Google's doings. | |
| | |  morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Re: FCC Majority Behind Open Access you are hilarious! insert TELCO in almost every place you have written google and it makes much more sense. | |
| | | | Romney2012Defeat Obama 2012-Chg we can believe inPremium
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kudos:4 | Re: FCC Majority Behind Open Access said by morbo:you are hilarious! insert TELCO in almost every place you have written google and it makes much more sense. I guess you haven't tumbled yet to the fact that Google is a corporation, just like any other, that is in the business of making money for the stockholders. Any altruism that they still cloak themselves in is to fool the sadly deluded people who buy in to their marketing hype as "Google the Good".
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| | | | | bi0tech
join:2003-06-19
Cockeysville, MD | Re: FCC Majority Behind Open Access Who said Google was altruistic?
They just seem to understand you don't have to slap on the cuffs as you bend people over, you can give them a little freedom to choose and still make a killing. | |
| | | | | | | I'll trust Google before AT&T any day. | |
| | | | | | | | Re: FCC Majority Behind Open Access Amazing!
If this was AT&T trying to rig the auction you would be screaming but becasue it is Google you are going to give them a pass?
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| | | | | | | | | Re: FCC Majority Behind Open Access said by Scatcatpdx:Amazing! If this was AT&T trying to rig the auction you would be screaming but becasue it is Google you are going to give them a pass? Yes, actually. I hate big corporations but Google is one of the few that seems to be doing things right. I'd love to see google get their way with this.
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| | | | | | | bi0tech
join:2003-06-19
Cockeysville, MD | Out of curiosity, what do you think they are trying to 'rig'?
Competitive access to the infrastructure for various companies?
Yep sounds evil and nefarious to me...
(please ignore this large stack of cash from ILECs/Cable co's) | |
| | | | | | |  KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·AT&T DSL Service
| said by Scatcatpdx:Amazing! If this was AT&T trying to rig the auction you would be screaming but becasue it is Google you are going to give them a pass? The auction is already rigged for AT&T. Google is trying to UN-RIG it.
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) | |
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1 edit | I've known AT&T to be self-serving megalomaniacal monopolists who have leveraged their monopoly, now duopoly, position to the detriment of consumers, shareholders, and the innovations of new technology alike. They are, almost single-handedly, responsible for the sorry state of telecom in the U.S. today. They have lied, cheated and bribed lobbied their way to dominance at the expense, and to the detriment, of the public they were paid to serve. If they weren't already rigging the auction with the complicity of the FCC, Google wouldn't have to publicize the issue.
If Google were trying to rig the auction so that it could lock up the 700MHz spectrum in the way AT&T and Verizon intend to do, I would rail against them as well. I'm tired of seeing the public weal being kicked in the ass by megopolies like AT&T/Verizon with the active assistance of regulatory bodies created to protect the public, but who are increasingly the handmaidens of the industries which they are obliged to regulate.
I don't trust AT&T, period. There is ample historical and contemporary basis for my apprehension. Do you think it was easy to bust Ma Bell into pieces the first time around? Do you think the reasons for doing so were trivial?
You're either very young, or very ignorant, to not have a grasp of the enormity of Ma Bell's transgressions against the citizenry of this country in terms of their business practices, as well as their complicity in the illegal actions taken by the Bush "Justice" Department in spying on all U.S. customers, and users of their networks. While unwarranted, illegal surveillance may not be at issue in terms of the auction, it certainly speaks to the trustworthiness of the entity most likely to warp/distort/nullify the fairness of the auction, and the operational function of the spectrum at issue, in ways solely subservient to their unbounded greed, the public interest be damned. | |
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| | | | | | Most of us are not deluded by google. We are, however, able to distinguish between those corporate interests and agendas that align with our interests and those that are antithetical to our interests. There would be very few people or companies that would benefit from the telcos hoarding more spectrum. Most businesses, as well as individual citizens, would benefit from a third competitor with different incentives than those of the incumbents. Google grew and learned to thrive in the internet age. They have a different set of incentives than the incumbents who thrived in a radically different world of vertically integrated control over the line as well as the applications. | |
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| | | The minimum came first. That is why google chose the number they did, as a committment to make sure that the fcc minimum was met. | |
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| | Open access MA BELL OWNZ JOO!
Has been and ALWAYS will be.
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|  NOCManMacChatterPremium
join:2004-09-30
Colorado Springs, CO | Buy most or all of it google you can afford it. Google is the only company out there with enough spare cash to actually buy it all.
Telco's will be fighting tooth and nail over this spectrum since the lower frequencies penetrate obstacles better than the higher cellular frequencies.
Still I'd say it's possible they could buy enough to provide full coverage if they wanted to. It's time google took some risks.
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1 edit | I hope Google goes all the way Just so they stick it to the Telcos. It would be worth the billions of dollars just to see their shocked faces when Google owns them in the money throwing contest. I hope Google does something with the spectrum though. | |
| |  tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI | Re: I hope Google goes all the way said by grandpinaple:Just so they stick it to the Telcos. It would be worth the billions of dollars just to see their shocked faces when Google owns them in the money throwing contest. I hope Google does something with the spectrum though. Google might already have the forsight to move in another direction in case their master plan falls through, however, they could have the cash to make another move...
»Sprint, Google WiMax | |
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| | goog The telecoms bidding on this bandwidth are business looking to make a profit. the more they pay for the auction, the more you as a consumer pays for the product.
Very simple: They buy the Mhz licence, they mark it up, provide service and sell it back to you so you can use your cell phone.
Google is trying to lower the bar they have to pay so they can offer services to you, the customer at a lower price. Imagine if logging on the Google Cell/Internet was $2 month with unlimited internet. Heck, maybe even free with ads.
The logic is simple, the less they spend, the less they will need to mark it in order to make a profit.
So, if the FCC doesnt make as much this year selling "air" who cares. It will be a huge technological leap for the USA when companies like google help the USA with wireless broadband. | |
| jagged
join:2003-07-01
Boynton Beach, FL | Of course Of course they won't, AT&T and the likes can't compete when they aren't a monopoly | |
| | |  Me too...
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| | | Let's just get it done with.... ...give all the spectrum to Verizon and AT&T and give them approal to merge. It's going to happen anyway so why not just get over with and do it all now rather than dragging it out.
If google seriously wanted to do something instead of offering to invest in new technologies they should've bought themselves some congressmen, senators, and fcc commisioners. They had everything backwards. | |
| | | Google there is always Canada Remember Google there is Always Canada.. our 700Mhz spectrum should be up for grabs after 2009 i say 2-3years later.. | |
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