The FCC has set the date for the upcoming 700MHz auction, which we have been looking at for a long time. The auction will take place on January 16th 2008, and will revolve around the already-carved-up spectrum in various aspects. There will be different offerings for different companies involved, so there will likely be a lot of private and public interest in acquiring what is available:
There is a nationwide 10 MHz paired block in which the winner will have to provide a public safety network in addition to any private use. There is a 22 MHz paired block divided into 12 regional licenses which has open device and software mandates. There are two economic area block of 176 licenses each, one is 12 MHz paired and the other is 6 MHz unpaired. Finally there is a 12 MHz paired block of 734 metro area licenses.
Just a few weeks ago, the FCC laid down the rules governing the auction, which has given both potential auctioneers and regular people an idea of what sort of products and services we can expect to come out of it.
I would like to know if Google still plans on participating, since some of their requests to the FCC were fulfilled but not all.