Google to Bid for U.S. Airwaves on Condition of Open Wireless Market

[engine]

Google Inc said on Friday it would take part in a major auction of wireless spectrum airwaves, meeting a minimum required bid of $4.6 billion (2.2 billion pounds), if U.S. regulators added a sale condition that Google said would promote an open wireless market.

"When Americans can use the software and handsets of their choice, over open and competitive networks, they win," Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said in a letter to Martin.

Google to bid for U.S. airwaves on condition of open wireless market. [uk.reuters.com]

[Bluepixel]

It's 2.2 milliard pounds, not billion.

[maximillianos]

Billions sounds more correct. I don't think the price would be so small as 4 million... =)

[zett]

If it were just 4 million, they probably would not even think for a split second about this...

[Miamacs]

You don't get it do you.

It's 2.2 milliard pounds, not billion.

MillIARD = 1,000 x 1,000,000
Billion = 1,000,000 x 1,000,000

Except in the US of course, which is about the only country on earth calling a milliard a billion ( which is 1000x a milliard, a million times a million everywhere else ).

What was the OP again? Oh, Google promoting a free market.

...

Aawww... they're so nice...

...

( I don't get it at all )

[Gibble]

US Billion = 10^9
UK Milliard = 10^9

UK Billion = 10^12

[vincevincevince]

First, timely reminder to the yanks that nobody else calls a thousand million a billion, good call. (Sorry Bill, you're still two orders of magnitude off being a billionaire)

Second, I can see this being nothing but good for Google. After all, most sessions of browsing feature Google.com anyway so they're already covering a massive slice of bandwidth.

Would tie in very nicely with their new more-regional datacenters... they could quickly become data-center-transmission-centers

[goodroi]

thanks everyone for this lovely discussion on the difference between millions and billions. engine was only quoting Reuters UK.

lets try to keep the conversation on target about google willing to spend more money than any of us will ever see on airwaves :)

[Miamacs]

And we were replying to maximillianos and zett, who in fact probably know all this, just misread milliard.

...

Back on topic...

WHY does Google ask for a free market?

A - they have interests in the sector
B - they don't have intrests in the sector
C - they want others to leap on the sector, and spend billionmilliards
D - they already have plans to buy half a dozen companies that COULD compete in this sector IF...
E - they would want to win the bid, but know they can't

...

G - they want to be the brokers, reselling frequency ranges, and not deliver anything of significance themselves because its bothersome.

I don't know, I don't get it, do you?

[jtara]

How can system that gives an exclusive franchise on spectrum space to a single company ever be "open"?

Sure, the government can create regulations to enforce Google's "good intentions". But ultimately, it is still a monopoly over the frequency range.

It's like a company store. How can that be a free market?

If Google REALLY wants to advocate openness, why not advocate that the space be allocated for available techniques that would permit an arbitrary number of carriers to share the space on a non-geographic-exclusive basis?

But that wouldn't create the monopoly Google would like to control.

[maximillianos]

Hey thanks for the clarification! I had never heard of a "milliard" before. My mind just glazed over it and read it as millions... ;-)

Learned something new...