As a follow up to our last report, Google today has posted a statement to their blog saying they're ready to dole out $4.6 billion at the upcoming 700Mhz spectrum auction if Kevin Martin's unreleased "open access" plan adheres to four principles:Martin seems ready to sign off on the first two. That third condition just isn't happening on telco-loyal Kevin Martin's watch, no matter how this declaration is dissected by the digerati over the next few days. Google knowing this makes the promise of investment fundamentally empty, though perhaps they'll be willing to step up anyway (even if by proxy).

You are talking about a several billion dollar commitment followed by probably between $10-$15 billion more to build the actual network -- if someone was preparing that sort of business plan, you would think there'd be some sort of evidence of it. -FCC Commissioner Adelstein

Democratic FCC Commissioners have doubted that Microsoft and Google will be willing to put their money where their mouth is once the auction arrives. Both companies are part of an alliance with consumer advocates and hardware vendors that has submitted 700Mhz broadband devices to the FCC for testing (more info on that here).

You can read their CEO's letter to Kevin Martin here.