Has Google gotten what it wanted in the Federal Communications Commission spectrum auction without spending billions?

That question is being answered in the affirmative by a variety of auction observers. The FCC auction, now taking place, is selling licenses in the 700-MHz spectrum, which is being vacated as TV stations in the United States transition from analog to digital transmission in 2009.

The C Block

Of the five blocks of spectrum, one of the most-watched is the C block. After a Google-led coalition of organizations and businesses successfully lobbied the FCC to adopt open-access rules for the C block, Google was widely expected to join the bidding — and did. The rules require that, whether the minimum price of $4.6 billion was met, the winner will allow the use of “any wireless device and download any mobile broadband application, with no restrictions,” as FCC Chairman Kevin Martin noted. Currently, carriers in the United States determine

what devices and software will operate on their frequencies.

Last week, a package that includes C-block licenses for the entire United States was bid at $4.71 billion. Earlier that week, bids totaling $4.74 billion were made for the eight regional C-block licenses. The FCC has said that the C-block spectrum can be sold as regional licenses whether those bids exceed the national package. Some observers have said that the regional licenses build sense for Verizon Wireless or AT&T, but less sense for Google — and Google, having triggered an open-access network that it can now leverage, may have stopped bidding.

The speculation that Verizon was either the leading bidder or one of the few remaining bidders for the C block was fueled by a report from Reuters, which noted that the carrier sold $4 billion in debt yesterday to raise cash. The debt included five-year notes, 10-year notes, and 30-year…

Orginal post by Top Tech News