Google Can't Change the Game

Prediction: Google (GOOG Quote) and the Federal Communications Commission will throw a bring-your-own-device party to ring in an era of open wireless standards, but no one will show up.

About 266 would-be bidders have signed up for the FCC's 700-megahertz auction next month. That list will quickly dwindle down to a handful of earnest winners like AT&T (T Quote), Verizon (VZ Quote), EchoStar (DISH Quote), maybe Google, and possibly Qualcomm (QCOM Quote). Those licensees will control some of the best radio waves to come around in decades.

The property is enormous -- it previously handled 18 channels of UHF analog TV broadcasts but was cleared out when broadcasters went digital. And it's also robust: Strong signals on this frequency can penetrate deep inside buildings.

Industry observers see the spectrum as the future of wireless and a gateway to a fourth-generation network technology such as WiMax or LTE, which can deliver broadband speeds to mobile users.

To avoid squandering this huge resource, or more specifically, to prevent this once-in-a-lifetime radio wave opportunity from falling exclusively into the hands of the telcos, Google and others urged regulators to create some guidelines. Promising a minimum bid of $4.6 billion in the 700 MHz auction, Google got the FCC to guarantee that the winner of the licenses must allow devices from other companies to operate on the new networks.