Google Plans to Bid 4.6 Billion on 700MHz Band

Posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, 2007 @02:23AM from the dude-you've-been-googed dept.

NickCatal writes "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google plans to bid $4.6 Billion on the 700 MHz radio spectrum being auctioned off by the FCC. What is most interesting is that they are not planning on partnering with other companies to raise the cash, they are going to spend their own cash and possibly borrow some. With partners such as Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile in their 'Open Handset Alliance' is this a sign that they are willing to directly compete with the people they courted to join?"

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Re:why? by Ducu2002 · 2007-11-16 02:41 · Score: 5, Informative

4.6 billion is the minimum price the FCC is willing to actually sell for, as in if nobody bids as much as 4.6 the FCC won't actually sell. So by saying to the FCC we'll bid 4.6 they assure the FCC they'll get the price they wanted. In exchange for this assurance Google got 2 out of 4 condition for free access to the frequency.