• The Wall Street Journal, Friday, November 30, 2007 10:03 AM

Google will bid on the wireless spectrum the FCC is putting up for auction on Jan. 24, according to inside sources. We knew that Google was going mobile, but many speculated that the search giant wouldn't go beyond mobile software. This latest revelation shows that Google wants to take on the cellular carriers, too, though it's unclear whether the company plans to build an uber-expensive wireless network itself, or hire an outside party to do it for them if it wins the auction.

Google already has a few things going for it prior to the auction, not the least of which is the rules for it laid down by the FCC. The Web giant requested that the winning bidder would have to resell access to their network on a wholesale basis, rather than retaining, guarding and selling it as they please.

The spectrum used to belong to radio and television broadcasters, which have been forced to give up the analog signals in favor of digital per a government mandate. The official move to digital signals will be early 2009. The 700 MHz spectrum, one of the last and biggest slices of radio airwaves left to be auctioned, is seen as the last chance for a new wireless carrier to enter the market.

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