Google has been moving closer to participating in the auction in recent weeks.

"Google's going to become a phone company," said Steve Arnold, a Google expert, in an interview Friday. "Since 1999 Google has been working toward becoming a telephone company."

In recent days, Google has praised Martin for moving closer to opening the 700-MHz spectrum. But in his new letter to Martin, Schmidt pushed four types of what he called "open" platforms. They are:

• Open applications. Consumers should be able to download software applications and content, and use services without restrictions.
• Open devices. Consumers should be able to use any type of handheld communications device and not be limited to those provided by or approved by the wireless service provider.
• Open services. Third-party resellers should be able to obtain wholesale bandwidth or wireless services from any company that wins a 700 MHz license.
• Open third-party networks. Other networks should be able to interconnect at technically feasible points with a 700 MHz licensee's wireless network.

Google's increasingly aggressive stance on the auction puts it on a collision course with major telephone companies such as AT&T and Verizon Communications.

Earlier this week, AT&T challenged Google to "put up or shut up" and test its open access measures. AT&T and several other telecom companies have argued that much of the existing telecom infrastructure has served consumers well by delivering ever-lower prices and improved innovation.

Arnold, who has written a book on Google and who examines its patents to attempt to determine its strategy, said the search engine company's network of data centers, substantial dark fiber deployment, and Wi-Fi experiments all serve to enable Google to offer services and products generally associated with telecommunications.

Noting that Google CEO Schmidt is on the Apple board of directors, Arnold indicated, as an example, that a truly open 700-MHz network would enable Apple iPhone owners to utilize different and fast wireless services. The iPhone currently works exclusively on the AT&T Wireless network.

While Schmidt praised Martin for his "bold vision" in his approach to using the 700 MHz spectrum, he said the FCC's latest draft order on the issue still "falls short" of including the four "open" conditions Google has called for.

By: DocMemory
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