• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, December 3, 2007

Following months of speculation, Google confirmed Friday that it will bid in the upcoming Federal Communications Commission wireless auction in the 700MHz band.

Google had earlier said it would likely participate in the auction for a portion of the spectrum that can be used to supply mobile phone and Internet services. The search giant will file its formal application today, Dec. 3, which is the deadline for parties to declare intent to bid in the auction, which begins Jan. 24.

"We believe it's important to put our money where our principles are," said Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google, in a prepared 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."

Google earlier this year had joined with activist groups to push for open access rules requiring operators to let users download any mobile applications on any device on a part of the spectrum known as the "C Block." The winning bidder must ensure the rules if the reserve price of $4.6 billion for the auction is met.

Google launched a separate initiative in November to create an open mobile platform with a group of more than 30 wireless carriers and handset makers. The goal is to make the mobile Internet more user-friendly and remove restrictions that keep consumers from sharing applications freely and moving handsets among carriers.

The search giant, however, says that its spectrum bid is unrelated to its development of the Android platform. If it wins the auction, Google would be able to offer mobile phone or Internet services, or to lease the spectrum to others. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has indicated in the past that the company has no interest in becoming a wireless operator.

The company also has said the planned Android platform will work well with existing wireless networks.

So why is Google bidding?

One goal may be to ensure that open access rules are attached to the spectrum auction by being directly involved in the process. Separately, Google could end up partnering with another company to build out and operate a wireless network, even if it has no plans to run the network itself.

"Android was really about making sure there's an operating system out there that will be Google-friendly, and this is about making sure there's a network that will be Google-friendly as well," says Jan Dawson, vice president, enterprise practice, at technology consultancy Ovum. For Google to get into the wireless infrastructure business--where it has no experience--wouldn't make much sense, he adds.

But the open access movement Google espouses is already having an impact. Last week, Verizon Wireless announced that starting next year it would allow any device meeting certain minimum standards to connect to its network. Users can also run any applications on those handsets. Mobile analysts speculated that the move would help position Verizon to make a competing bid in the 700MHz auction. AT&T is expected to be among other bidders.