700mhz

In a move that convinces that certain OHA members are collaborating to create the fabled gPhone, Qualcomm has announced the RTR6570 tranceiver, which "...delivers support for the 700 MHz band to CDMA2000 and WCDMA (UMTS) devices"

Qualcomm, OHA member, creator of the MSM7200A chipset for which the first linux kernel released by than Android team is compiled, chip supplier to OHA cohort HTC whom rumour has oft associated with the gPhone, is building a chipset to run on the 700mhz band which Google has recently confirmed it is going after.

Whew. This is more evidence than your average 911 conspiracy theorist can produce.

Or maybe not. Maybe Qualcomm is just a company chasing profit who knows that whoever wins big in the 700mhz spectrum is gonna need a chipset.

Here is the press release.

"We believe it's important to put our money where our principles are," said Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google. "Consumers deserve more competition and innovation than they have in today's wireless world. No matter which bidder ultimately prevails, the real winners of this auction are American consumers who likely will see more choices than ever before in how they access the Internet."

The Canadian Federal Government has announced the rules of an upcoming spectrum auction, and 40 of the 105mhz on the block is set aside for new players.

To be eligible for the bandwidth reserved for newbs, prospective bidders must currently have less than a 10% market share of the wireless market by revenue.

No one knows if Google is at all interested in bidding, but given their announced intention to bid on the 700mhz spectrum in the US and their rumoured interest in an upcoming UK spectrum auction we feel justified in spreading rumours.

If Google were to enter the competition, they'd need a Canadian partner; auction rules stipulate that foreign firms may only bid in partenrship with a Canadian company.

If Google is looking for a partner, I'm Canadian and I'm available. I'll open the bidding at CDN $2.73.

Verizon has issued a press release announcing that...

...it will provide customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company. Verizon Wireless plans to have this new choice available to customers throughout the country by the end of 2008.

In early 2008, the company will publish the technical standards the development community will need to design products to interface with the Verizon Wireless network. Any device that meets the minimum technical standard will be activated on the network. Devices will be tested and approved in a $20 million state-of-the-art testing lab which received an additional investment this year to gear up for the anticipated new demand. Any application the customer chooses will be allowed on these devices.

While not directly Android related, the news that Verizon will allow third party hardware and software on its network means that, OHA member or not, Android-running handsets will be welcome on the network.

Of course, the more cynical among us may accuse Verizon of making this move in order to show good intentions to the FCC in their bid for the 700mhz space. And the inordinately pessimistic among us may may worry that, when push comes to shove, Verizon's technical standards may be so stringent that third-party products are effectively shut out anyway.

But I'm not a sardonic person person, really, so I'll just hope that Verizon's announcement is the next step in a wholesale revolution in the US mobile carrier scene.

UPDATE: FCC Chairman Martin has published a positive opinion regarding the Verizon announcement. From his statement:

Today’s announcement, along with the Open Handset Alliance’s previous announcement of an open platform capable of working on multiple networks, is a significant step towards fulfilling these goals. I am optimistic that Verizon Wireless’s commitment along with the upcoming spectrum auction will ensure an exciting new era in wireless technology for the benefit of all consumers.

Following an article in The Times yesterday which sorta-semi-conjectures that Google might be interested in bidding on a spectrum auction in the UK, the Register is poo-pooing the idea and has some quotes to back it up:

Chris Sacca, the search and advertising giant's "head of special intiatives", will meet regulators at Ofcom today to discuss UK spectrum, but told the Reg yesterday that the firm "isn't interested in becoming the world's carrier".

He said: "We're not preparing a bid [in the UK] and we're not looking for partners," adding that his talks with Ofcom today will merely be aimed at establishing the facts around UK wireless regulations.

That "establishing the facts around UK wireless regulations" is interesting, tho. Google may not be planning on bidding, but they are keeping their eye on the lay of the land, which means that everyone can go ahead and resume their speculation.

What does Google+Android_700mhz+sprint+skype get you?

A Google rumour mill that's gone completely batsh*t.

This blog over at the Guardian is saying this:

Currently in favour around London's webbist community is the rumour that Google has been in negotiations to buy Skype, the web telephony firm, from eBay.

Nice. There's not even a whiff of legitimacy around this one - the blurb doesn't even pretend there is. But it's fun, isn't it?

If Google were to buy Skype, and all the other rumour bits'n'pieces were to fall in line, we could have the big G running ads on VOIP calls over an Android-running handset rocking the 700mhz spectrum. Woo-wee.

Keep in mind that eBay is an OHA member, so whether or not this rumour is true, we're definitely gonna see a Skype client for Android.

Incidentally, I love the term "webbist". It's like "chemist" or "boot", a reminder that the English speak the language better than North Americans do.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is getting serious about betting bidding on the 700mhz spectrum auction.

The company is gearing up to make a serious run at buying wireless spectrum, a chunk of the airwaves that can be used to provide mobile phone and Internet services, in a Federal Communications Commission auction in January. Google is prepared to bid on its own without any partners, say people familiar with the matter. It is working out a plan to finance its bid, which could run $4.6 billion or higher, that would rely on its own cash and possibly some borrowed money.

The article goes on the report that Google is already testing an advanced wireless network on their campus in Mountain View.

Meanwhile, the other carriers are hoping that Google doesn't know what its getting into, and that its underestimating what it takes to run a network. Of course, Google might be looking to buy the experience required from Sprint...

I for one welcome our new hair,

Prior to the Android announcement, a major building block of the gPhone rumour mill was the idea of a mobile service that was entirely ad-supported. The idea was that Google and whichever mobile carrier(s) agreed to the scheme would release a phone (whether there would be an initial hardware cost or not was not certain), for which the entire cost of the voice and data plan would be covered by ads running on the phone (text messages? pre-voicemail? pre-call!?).

The entire idea seems to have come from this Wall Street Journal article from Aug 2, 2007, and sepcifically this statement:

Google even envisions a phone service one day that is free of monthly subscription charges and supported entirely through ad revenue, people familiar with the matter say.

Subsequent to this article this sentence came to dominate the gPhone discussion. Talk of Google revolutionizing the industry became the norm. Adding gas to the flame was Google's interest in the 700mhz spectrum auction. Here it seemed Google was actively attempting to secure the infrastructure necessary to launch its own, perhaps ad-supported, mobile network. And hey, haven't they already bought up a bunch of the dark fiber in the continental US? Would they next attempt an overthrow of the government?

And then the announcement: Android.

No gPhone, just some prototype devices to run Google's new mobile OS. A number of the mobile carriers whose business model would be seriously debased by the advent of an ad-supported network turned out to be willing partners in Google's plans. Oh, and advertising barely rates a mention in any of the Google-sanctioned Android info released so far.

Any time Google picks its nose the net pundits fall all over themselves to figure out how the search giant is going to realize some ad revenue from the act. This is not entirely unreasonable - ads represent the vast majority of Google's revenue, and as a publicly-traded company they are beholden to shareholders. But Google have been responsible for a number of initiatives and purchases that don't seem primarily motivated by the desire to increase ad revenue. Writely? Open Social? Calendar? Sure, the opportunity for some ad revenue is there, but often Google seems motivated by something else.

Jason Calacanis, on the most recent This Week in Tech podcast (Nov. 11, 2007) indicated that he felt Larry and Sergey were not so much interested in money as they were interested in innovation, the changing tech landscape, and just building cool stuff; I think this informs much of Google's actions. These guys just want to put the Google stamp on the world. If they can have a hand in deciding the future of the internet and technlogy, the revenue will find them.

And by doing things like Open Social and Android, by setting standards and working towards practical, open solutions, Google is helping to guarantee that it remains a relevant player without being evil. By remaining relevant, Google is helping to ensure that it will be in a position to take advantage of the next revenue stream that comes along.

And the ad-supported phone? Maybe at some point in the future we'll see it. There are certainly opportunities for ad revenue to be had here - paid listings on WhatsOpen, anyone?