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Whew! Google Saved by the Highest Bidder

Search giant OK with not winning FCC spectrum auction

By Laila Weir,  Newser User

Posted Apr 4, 2008 1:02 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Google nearly became the unenthused owner of a $4.71 billion slice of wireless airwaves in a recent Federal Communications Commission auction, the New York Times reports. Its bid was part of a deal with the FCC to open some spectrum to third-party services, but for much of the bidding, Google had the top price—until Verizon swooped in with the $4.74 billion winner.

“There were definitely some people at the company that had cold feet,” a Google staffer admits, but the search giant also thought it was “picking up something at a great price.” Winning would have made the spectrum Google’s biggest-ever investment and forced it into some role in the wireless business; losing means the openness Google was shooting for all along.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin takes part in an industry insider session at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in this Jan. 8. 2008 file photo.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin takes part in an industry insider session at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in this Jan. 8. 2008 file photo.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Graphic shows daily trading of Google since 2004.
Graphic shows daily trading of Google since 2004.   (AP Photo)
The logo of Google, seen on the front door of the new Google Engineering center in Zurich, Switzerland, in this March 6, 2008 file photo.
The logo of Google, seen on the front door of the new Google Engineering center in Zurich, Switzerland, in this March 6, 2008 file photo.   (AP Photo/Keystone, Walter Bier, file)
Google employees wait for the visit of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the company's New York offices on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008.
Google employees wait for the visit of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the company's New York offices on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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The auction: Post-game analysis
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More post-auction discussion
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Google • FCC • Verizon • cell phone industry • spectrum auction • wireless industry • AT&T Wireless

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