Bubblr Inc. (BBLR)

[moneycane]

Check this out. Looks like Google's interested in pursuing this technology as well.

Google's plan for airwaves
INTERNET GIANT PROPOSES OPEN ACCESS TO NATIONAL WIRELESS NETWORK; TELECOMMUNICATIONS GROUP OBJECTS TO IDEA OF RESTRICTIONS ON AUCTION
By Elise Ackerman and Mark Schwanhausser
Mercury News
Article Launched: 07/21/2007 01:35:50 AM PDT



Google pledged Friday to bid at least $4.6 billion in a government auction for wireless licenses, dramatically upping the stakes in a game of political and business chess between some of the country's leading technology and telecom companies over the future of mobile access to the Internet.

Google's bid came with strings that could assure the company and other would-be telecommunciations tycoons access to a national wireless network, even if they don't win the auction.

In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt argued those conditions would guarantee that the American consumer would benefit as well. "When Americans can use the software and handsets of their choice, over open and competitive networks, they win," he wrote.

Opponents of Google's proposal argue it could deprive the public of the full value of the spectrum, which it owns.

"This is an attempt to pressure the U.S. government to turn the auction process on its head by ensuring only a few, if any, bidders will compete with Google," wrote Jim Cicconi, AT&T's senior executive vice president, external and legislative affairs, in a response to Martin on Friday.

Martin and the four FCC commissioners are setting rules for the auction of the electromagnetic spectrum, which is used by television stations to broadcast UHF channels.

Google, along with a coalition of public interest groups and technology entrepreneurs, wants the FCC to require that this 22-megahertz block of spectrum be "open" so that any handheld device or any software application can run on it. They also want to require the winner of the spectrum to resell it on a wholesale basis, and to allow third parties to connect to the network.
"Everyone benefits from this," said Craig Mathias, founder of Farpoint, a wireless research group. "The idea is literally an Internet in the sky that will be open to any authorized user."

The FCC could set the rules sometime this month. The auction must take place before Jan. 28.

In a draft of the rules circulated to FCC commissioners, Martin indicated that he supported open access for devices and applications, or two of Google's four requests. He also reportedly set a minimum bid of $4.6 billion for the 22-megahertz block.

Telecommunications giants have argued that adding conditions to the auction would make the spectrum far less attractive to them, leading to lower bids and less money for taxpayers.

Meanwhile, Google said it would only bid if all four of its conditions were met.

John Walls, a spokesman for the CTIA-The Wireless Association, whose members include all the major telecommunications companies, said Google is claiming "squatters' rights."

Walls said Google should bid in an unrestricted auction and then set up the kind of network it wants if it won.

Andrew Seybold, a consultant to the wireless industry, said wireless networks have much less bandwidth than DSL or cable and must be carefully managed. "Wireless networks are complex things," he said, noting that spam and security threats are, as a result, much less frequent on mobile networks.


Contact Elise Ackerman at [e-mail] or [phone].



http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_6431057