• by Sean , July 31, 2007

Is Google planning to release a device to compete in the growing mobile market?

Probably not.

But CNET is reporting that Google is planning to make a bid in the upcoming 700 MHz Wireless Spectrum auction by the Federal Communications Commission early next year.

This news comes even before the ink is dry on the deal signed between Google and Sprint Nextel, offering Google’s mobile services on the carrier’s new 4G WiMax network. To date, it’s Google’s largest deal with an existing mobile provider.

But a bid for space on the 700MHz wireless spectrum could mean an expansion of free wireless networks like the ones already in place in San Francisco and Mountain Valley.

It’s well-known a widely available wireless broadband solution has yet to be implemented. Many companies like Sprint and AT&T offer expensive and marginal options to customers through expansion cards for laptops. If anyone is setting out to create a widespread wireless access portal to the World Wide Web … it’s Google.

Is this the beginnings of something big? Google has already begun to compete with traditional media with print and TV advertising. Now, will it venture into the competitive world of wireless telecom?