Google joined traditional wireless companies in the U.S. auction, triggering speculation that the company might get into the mobile business. Yet analysts view the likelihood of the company spending billions of dollars to buy spectrum and then build a network as very small. Auction participants are not allowed to comment before the information becomes public.
The brokerage Citigroup estimates that Verizon spent about $8 billion to $10 billion for spectrum, while AT&T likely bid $5 billion to $7 billion. The companies operate the two largest wireless-phone businesses in the United States and were expected to emerge as the biggest bidders in the auction. Also Wall Street analysts believe Google’s goal was a modest one: to ensure that part of the spectrum would be open to any devices or software. With open-access rules in place, Google hopes to get wireless customers to use its software to make mobile-Internet searches, a fast-growing and potentially lucrative part of the market. Google has been working on its own software platform that could be used with any mobile device.
The auction, which began in late January, closed on Tuesday after generating an FCC record of $19.6 billion. The names of the winners cannot be released for at least 10 business days. So, till then we can analyze all we want but at the end of the day until the Federal Communications Commission unveils the winners, though, it’s just an educated guess.
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