Google's plan for an open wireless Internet: 'Crazy like a fox'?

The Verizon-Google proposal exempts mobile services from a suggested non-discrimination rule, which the companies said should only apply to wired Internet traffic. Some industry sources say Google's seeming policy shift might also be part of a longer strategy by the company in service to its long-held view that the Internet should remain open.

"I would say Google's strategy is crazy like a fox," said one industry analyst, who noted the rough publicity Google has faced over the wireless exemption. Google, the analyst and other industry sources said, might have made the seeming wireless concession because it already feels confident Verizon cannot go too far in flouting openness standards for wireless customers.

Google helped secure openness rules from the Federal Communication Commission two years ago that will govern Verizon's most advanced wireless offerings as it begins operating a 4G network. Verizon secured the spectrum it will use in its LTE network through the 700 MHz spectrum auction two years ago in a nearly $10 billion purchase. As a condition for bidding on the spectrum, Verizon had to agree to allow consumers to use any device and any lawful application on its mobile network. Those rules were imposed after Google plied the FCC to make openness a priority in the auction.

The goals of the open access standards, secured two years ago, mirror those of rules Google and Verizon proposed for wireline networks on Monday. Verizon's offerings, as the country's largest wireless provider, could go a long way in shaping what consumers expect from the mobile Internet, forcing other companies to adopt openness standards because consumers will eventually demand it. Some analysts said Google likely had that possible trend in mind when it agreed to the wireless exemption.