TechSpot - PC Technology News and Analysis

Earlier this year, Google announced that should they choose to participate in the upcoming frequency auction, they would be investing around $4.6 billion as a reserve for it. Now it seems Google will definitely be partaking in the upcoming auction for a chunk of the 700MHz band, which will happen over the course of the next year. They are now outlining their plan to actually drum up that cash, and possibly even more as the deadline approaches.

There are a few caveats for them to contend with, such as other big names with big bankrolls competing for the bandwidth, but Google's determination and willingness to try new things certainly seems to give them a leg up. With their recent announcement of the Android SDK, it seems plausible that Google will intend to almost couple these technologies together – perhaps acquiring the spectrum, then leasing it to would-be cell or other service providers.

Unfortunately, Google is helping fuel rumors by not outright saying what their intentions are. Whether they plan to try and launch their own open-access network, which would be obscenely expensive, lease the spectrum to others or some other plan altogether.