Google Proposes Innovation in Radio Spectrum Auction

GOOGLE PROPOSES INNOVATION IN RADIO SPECTRUM AUCTION
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: John Markoff]
Google filed a proposal on Monday with the Federal Communications Commission calling on the agency to let companies allocate radio spectrum using the same kind of real-time auction that the search engine company now uses to sell advertisements. The company had no plans to bid in the closely watched sale of a swath of broadcast spectrum scheduled for February 2009 as part of the nation’s transition to digital broadcast television. The company, the world’s dominant search engine, has, however, become an active participant in the debate over the control of access to broadband digital networks because it wants to create more competition among digital network providers like cable companies and Internet service providers. The Google filing comes two days before a deadline for public comments set in an F.C.C. rule-making procedure for the sale of spectrum in the 700 MHz band, now largely used by UHF television broadcasters. In their proposal, Google executives argue that by permitting companies to resell the airwaves in a real-time auction would make it possible to greatly improve spectrum use and simultaneously create a robust market for innovative digital services.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/technology/22google.html
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