Schmidt: Google will 'Probably' Bid on Spectrum
ASPEN, Colo. — Google CEO Eric Schmidt says the search giant will "probably" bid in the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auctions, telling an audience here Tuesday that Google "got the spirit of what we were asking" for in the recent rulemaking decision by the FCC.
Context & Ripple Effects
In May, Google laid out its proposal for open-access conditions on the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction, pressing the FCC to require that whatever network emerges from the sale accept any lawful device and application. The FCC's rulemaking has since landed, and Eric Schmidt told an Aspen audience Tuesday that the agency 'got the spirit of what we were asking.'
That matters because Google's leverage so far has been purely regulatory — shaping the auction's rules from the outside. Schmidt's 'probably' moves the company one step toward becoming a bidder itself, converting its policy advocacy into a possible play for spectrum it helped define.
First-order effects
- If Google follows through, the auction gains a bidder with both the balance sheet and the motive to pay up for spectrum carrying the very open-access conditions it lobbied for, raising the competitive temperature for incumbent license holders.
- Schmidt's framing also puts pressure on the FCC's process: having declared the rules acceptable, Google loses the lobbying rationale for sitting out.
Second-order effects
- Established wireless players must now price Google's participation into their own bidding strategies, since a rival bidding for open spectrum changes the cost of winning the block either way.
- Equipment and application vendors gain a potential beachhead: any network Google builds or enables under these rules would be the first real-world test of devices reaching consumers without carrier gatekeeping.
Third-order effects
- A Google win would establish a template for internet companies entering regulated infrastructure through auction design rather than lobbying after the fact, weakening the traditional boundary between software firms and carriers.
- For regulators, the episode demonstrates that attaching openness conditions to spectrum sales can attract non-traditional bidders, making such conditions a recurring tool in future auctions.
The trend: Internet companies are shifting from shaping spectrum policy at arm's length to considering direct participation in auctions, with FCC open-access rules serving as their point of entry into wireless.