Today Google announced that should the FCC adopt a framework that would require greater competition and consumer choice, then the company would bid in the federal government’s upcoming auction for the wireless spectrum in the 700 megahertz (MHz) band. Google has urged the FCC to consider several rules, regardless of who wins the spectrum, and encouraged the FCC to adopt four types of what Google calls “open platforms.” These include:
- Open applications: Consumers should be able to download and utilize any software applications, content, or services they desire;
- Open devices: Consumers should be able to utilize a handheld communications device with whatever wireless network they prefer;
- Open services: Third parties (resellers) should be able to acquire wireless services from a 700 MHz licensee on a wholesale basis, based on reasonably nondiscriminatory commercial terms; and
- Open networks: Third parties (like internet service providers) should be able to interconnect at any technically feasible point in a 700 MHz licensee’s wireless network.