Google criticizes Verizon for 700-MHz lobbying
By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- EDN, October 4, 2007
Search engine giant Google Inc. came out swinging once again today against telecommunications player Verizon Communications Inc. in the companies' ongoing debate over the upcoming auction of the 700-MHz wireless spectrum band.
In an entry on the company's policy blog, Google's Washington media and telecom counsel Richard Whitt criticized Verizon for reports that the telecom company is heavily lobbying the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to change the newly established "open access" provision to the auction. That provision is set to ensure that a portion of the spectrum is set aside for a nationwide interoperable broadband network not controlled by a single telecommunications carrier.
The segment of the spectrum that will be up for auction actually runs from 698-MHz to 806-MHz, and is currently occupied by television broadcasters. The spectrum will be vacated with television's impending move to digital transmission; currently, the date for the auction is set for January 16, 2008.
The FCC's acceptance in July of the open access policy for the auction was in large part a result of intense and public endorsements by Google, Yahoo, Intel, and eBay.
However, according to reports cited by Whitt, the FCC's chairman Kevin Martin is now "aggressively pushing for prompt revisions to the 700-MHz open-access rule" after being persuaded by heavy lobbying from Verizon. In today's blog entry, Whitt called Martin's actions "apparently in violation of FCC rules," and added that Google's representatives "hope the FCC sticks to its guns as it tries to introduce the open ethos of the 'Net to a small segment of the closed wireless world."
Verizon could not be reached by Electronic News for immediate comment on the recent events.
