It's official: Google to bid in 700Mhz auction

When Google first announced its interest in bidding in the FCC's 700Mhz spectrum auction this year, it was hard to read the company's intentions. Was Google really planning to buy spectrum? Was it simply bluffing to push an open agenda? Only the top brass in Mountain View knew for sure. Well, regardless of what they have up their sleeve, it does look like they're really going to throw down and in a big way: the company has officially announced that they will bid in the late January auction for the "C Block" of 700Mhz wireless spectrum. Keep in mind that this is a pretty serious commitment--the auction, which kicks off on January 24th, has a minimum bid of $4.6 billion. "We believe it's important to put our money where our principles are," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in a statement. "Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today's wireless world. No matter which bidder ultimately prevails, the real winners of this auction are American consumers who likely will see more choices than ever before in how they access the Internet." So what happens if Google really does take home a slice of spectrum? Will they build their own wireless broadband network? Keep it as an investment? Sell it off to a carrier but with specific restrictions on how it must be used? Looks like we'll have to wait until next year to find out.

For more on the announcement:
- see this press release