6 December 2007
Google has announced that it will bid for part of the US airwaves that would allow it to diversify and launch a nationwide wireless Internet network. The part Google are interested in is called the C Block and is being sold by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in an auction starting at $4.6bn (£2.2bn).
The planned transition to digital TV services in the US has freed up the wireless capacity and the C Block radio waves will be free from early 2009.
Google's ambitions lie within the mobile communications arena with existing players listening eagerly to what the search engine giant will announce. At the moment, most mobile phone companies force users to use particular software to operate their handsets.
The FCC has specified that whoever wins the auction must use it to allow users to operate whatever software they want. Google recently announced plans to develop software for mobile phones.
Eric Schmidt, Google chief executive, promised that whoever wins the auction US consumers would see more choices than ever before in how they access the Internet.
The C Block is in the 700 megahertz band of the wireless spectrum.
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