Discussion on:

Sanity check: The 700 MHz auction will tip the wireless balance, but in which direction?

Here are my thoughts: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/hiner/?p=592

Who do you think will win the 700 MHz auction? What do you think it will mean for the future of mobile and wireless in the U.S.?

Microsoft is building a web ad organization to rival Google. Were they one of the prescreened bidders?

I think Microsoft wants to remain a software and services company. Microsoft is building an ad network, as you mentioned, but for mobile ads I think they would be much more likely to build a strong partnership with a big vendor.

Isn't that what we would be deluged with if Google wins anything?

Which internet are you using? Mine is NOW covered in ads. Or it would be if there were a 64 bit Flash Player.

This was very informative and I wanted to thank you for posting it. I work for one of the communication giants and have often wondered why they have not pursued VoIP more aggressively. But I am nothing but a peon and may not be fully aware of what they are doing with VoIP. And I have seen projections that in the near future wireless subscribers will out number landline subscribers. So I can see how this would be a very hot commodity.

I noticed that the range of coverage is 20 miles...that could mean a more cost-effective means of opening up more rural/remote US residences to high-speed internet coverage. Do you thing that is part of the plan?

Wireless Internet will make rural broadband much more economically feasible. WiMAX will start that process in 2008 and 2009.

Hello Jason,
this is a great article as usual. I thought that Google was spreading wireless to cover the city of San Francisco. What of that effort? Do you know anything about that? Could it be that this is going to influence their choice?

Google was going to help build a city-wide network of Wi-Fi access points. Those plans fell through for economic and political reasons.

I wouldn't be surprised if Google made San Francisco its first city to test a rollout if it wins the 700 MHz auction, but this wireless strategy is definitely a larger nation-wide (and eventually global) play for Google.

Thank you Jason.
I am always looking forward to your articles so keep them coming.

I just don't understand the legalities of all this. Good ole Uncle Sam has got to have their hands in everything. How can you own frequencies, or sell them?? Who owns the oceans?? Who owns the air you breathe??? Who owns the land you live on?? This whole thing is laughable. I just hope the average consumer gets the good end of this deal.

yes and where would the technology be without proper regulation? Do you have any idea how many different kinds of RF devices there are out there and how much chaos there would be if the airwaves were not controlled by the FCC?

Very informational Jason. Also the caveat for the C Block means that if the $4.6 billion bid is not cleared, then AT&T or Verizon could bid for a closed C block...

What right do they have to sell fractions of the electromatic spectrum? Your government is out of control. You call it a democracy? Who's voting? You don't even know who's running your life and so you have to grab at straws. Did anyone consider that this money gobbling act of privitization might actually be illegal? But hey, how can anything the government does be illegal? If it were me, I would wonder how a country comes to the point of selling itself out so miserably.

pr.arun@...
Job Role: Other
Location: Hyd, India
Member since: 03/29/2007
^
| Who is this guy? Why are American affairs suddenly international business? Go talk about the selling of the airwares in your own country. Oh that's right. India wouldn't sell its airwaves.

Why are American affairs suddenly international business?

Unfortunately, given the tone of your post, explaining the inter-relationships of the American economy and the world economy would be futile.

Yep, the world couldn't survive without biting America's neck every now and then to suck more blood.

i think, sir, should you have the time and/ or interest to honestly examine your nations history, you will find, surely, that the u.s. has not exactly been shy and un-forthcoming in the "neck-biting" area either....let he who is without sin...etc., etc.....

Musicians and public speakers already use this spectrum for our wireless guitars and lapel microphones, and have spent millions of dollars on equipment that will be rendered useless by this land grab. I'm supposed to be alright with it since the money will go to my government and so, indirectly, to me.

Yeah. Right.

Have been the same since WWI. The delay of this information is how certain people make a lot of money.

And we've had a branch of government created to control flow between the two, called the CIA. Just like every other country in the world, it's the government's agency for Intelligence Gathering. However unlike every other government in the world, we don't acknowledge its purpose in keeping the US afloat in a global economy.

You wanna hear about how we sold out? look up Woodrow Wilson quotes from during and after his presidency. Ya know the ones about how he signed over America's Freedom when he created the PRIVATELY OWNED federal reserve bank.

Interestingly there is a airwave (spectrum) auction in India too. 2.9 Ghz it seems. So any take/comments on that?

Thanks, Jason for the heads up information.

Interesting our future mobile phone service might be VoIP!! This could have world wide impact.

Does anyone know if this 700MHz technology is ALREADY being used by wireless/internet companies in other countries?

My biggest concern is openness. I'm a Verizon Wireless customer, but only because I've had the contract forever, I plunked down the cash for a Treo 700p (CDMA) and most of my friends & family have Verizon (free mobile -> mobile).

The idea of a whole spectrum with carrier-neutral handsets (best case) makes my mouth water, not to mention the concept of relatively inexpensive (hopefully) carrier-neutral mobile broadband modems.

last term for my competitive inteligence class we researched apple google and microsoft and found some interesting news. one, google took out patents on cdma technology, they have also given developers kits out for their new open source phones to have its network & security infrastructure made (for free). they have even been in talks with simon fuller, the man behind UKs idol hit show which spawned american idol, to revolutionize the way media content is created and delived. they even had the foresight to partner up with apple via youtube(which google ows) to create the demand they will supply to when they grab this auction and give comcast a run for their money.

Too bad your Competitive Intelligence class did not teach you the importance of proper spelling, punctuation, grammar and capitalization to good communication.

You may have a valid point, but it's lost in the morass that is your post.

Amen. I don't want to take away from the real intent of this blog thread but...... how in the world are we ever going to become a better society, one in which is capable of showing the world the technology advancements we are making, if we don't have the society base to communicate. What an embarrassment! The Enligh language continues to be annihilated and few seem to care. This truly is a "Pity".

Obviously, neither of you realize that intelligence has NOTHING to do with spelling or punctuation. Give me a society of people with compassion and understanding over pernickety, robotic jerks who think that grammar is the end-all be-all. Get a life, Jerks!

im just happy to be critically thinking, which is it's own reward. thank you for reminding me what's important. compassion and understanding.

didn't your mom ever tell you if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all? i wrote that on my pda while commuting. i already did my report with MLA citations, and I'd be happy to sell it you after a sample of my writing skills. but unless you've got an offer leave your emotional need to be an ******* at home. mkay, thanks

-gabriel.

1. I thought I was being nice. I never once stooped to name-calling.

2. My BlackBerry has a shift key and punctuation keys. So does my Palm.

3. Even under adverse circumstances, proper grammar and spelling are still proper.

4. If you were behind the steering wheel during this commute you mention, I strongly suspect you were a primary contributor to road rage in your area this morning.

5. Not going to make an offer. I've already got a sample of your writing skills...

and finally...

I really thought you had a valid point in your original post. But my anally-obsessed-with-proper-English-in-writing mind couldn't get past everything else to see what it was.

I understand the need for Grammar, Punctuation, and Clear Cohesion in a paper. However, I take these posts about as seriously as I do my MySpace posts, not at all, and what matters to me is the discourse. I pay people about $100 a day to check my grammar and teach me how to write, it's called college.

so you say "i really thought you had a valid point" but you couldnt see past everything else to see what it was...

Maybe the point was to let go of the anal retention attached to your staus and hear someone out as human being.

I understand the accumulation of wealth is done by atomistic individuals doing their own thing in an economic market. (economic sociology is one of my favorite classes right now) But, can the atom know the molecule if it is still holding onto the fact that it's an atom?

Don't you deal with enough Politically Correct bull at work?

Now, about you're problem with people using poor grammar. Did you ever think that innovative technology used with a Utility-Maximizing Mentality, may have adverse affects on society as a whole? That, maybe creating systems to count change for the cashier at McDonalds, weakens our country's intellectual infrastructure? Can you honestly say that you've never contributed to the dumbening of the US?

I understand how computers have evolved from processing data, to information, to knowledge. Any good IT person knows this. But Society doesn't know that this means their College Level Jobs are now being outsourced. The highest demand in jobs in the US has been temp jobs for at least 4 years now, who do we have to thank? IT.

I have no problem with poor grammar, just like I have no problem with the crackheads in philly, I respect them as a neccesary facet on a faceless machine. If there is no economic system that does not serve an economic purpose, then there are no social reprocussions without a need to inform.

Thankfully it's not what you do it's how you do it, which is the only reason im still in this field in this country.

"Now, about you're problem with people using poor grammar." [sic]

That's funny. Using poor grammer to complain about poor grammer. It should be "your" not "you're".

I wouldn't call your post a model of perfect grammar or spelling, Fink. I hope you were trying to be funny.

"Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:3)

Final question.

Why are you in college and just now learning to write (at $100/day)? Why didn't you learn it in grade school and high school (when it was essentially free)?

Edit: Can you honestly say that you've never contributed to the dumbening [sic] of the US? I don't doubt I've made at least one contribution, but none quite like that one.

I appreciate proper grammar as much as the next guy, but your comments are completely ridiculous and not nice. In spite of the poor grammar you're accusing Gabriel of you still got his point, and I think it's quite alright to check some grammar formalities at the door when posting on a forum. I've seen far worse grammar on this site. Your comments had nothing to do with the topic. I apologize for contributing to the digression, but somebody had to check you guys.

I really thought you had a valid point in your original post. But my anally-obsessed-with-proper-English-in-writing mind couldn't get past everything else to see what it was.

The only thing I was able to get from his original post was that "google" did something and then something else and talked to somebody and "give comcast a run for their money." If that was the conclusion, I missed it.

He failed to communicate, primarily due to poor sentence structure and paragraph construction. And it's somehow my fault? Wrong answer.

you three gentlemen are quite honestly hilarious....after several of your overly dramatic "grammar" posts, i began to perceive a definite satirical subtext going on....reminiscent, i believe, of the old "who's on first base...." classic. please keep it up, gentlemen, you quite made my day.....

I got drama in return.

Get your fun where you can...

isnt it more likely that everyone (by that i meant the big players with the money) will hold back and deliberately keep the bidding low so that the auction has to be redone, but without the C class restrictions...then they will bid high to ensure they get it.

What I wnat to know is...what is the FCC going to do with all that money?

They need it right now.

I think available bandwidth and reuse factor at 700 MHz carrier should be taken into account as well.

1.5Mbps at 700Mhz is quite a stretch!

At 900Mhz you barely get 3Mbps aggregate ??? that means 1.5 up and 1.5 down but with overhead it is more like 1.2Mbps. I wonder what kind of speeds they are going to get? For cell phones it???s no big deal but wireless internet for laptops? It???s going to be really slow???..FYI for people, this is the old UHF band so it has been used for decades but only for TV signals. It will be interesting to see what gets promised and what is reality.