What Just happened: Just as Gizmodo, and to a lesser extent I believed, Verizon has won the auction for rights to the 700Mhz chunk of the US airwaves. The Giz has a handy guide here about why that’s important, and what it is.
Why that’s not so great: Simply put, Verizon doesn’t really change things.
When Google threw their hat into the ring, opinions were divided on whether it was purely to save face, but I thought that a Google-owned 700Mhz band would have been far more interesting.
More info after the jump>
The difference between the two companies is that Google changes things, they invent cool new services that are almost always free to use, and encourage communication and sharing. Verizon Wireless is a communications company – that’s more or less it. They create services like text and voice carriers, and sell them.
There’s nothing really too innovative about what Verizon does. Google would have really made something of the opportunity, with new forms of wireless communication, not to mention some services that would tie-in to Andriod, their new Open Source OS for mobile devices.
DISH network would possibly have been a better winner of the band, maybe carving out a new, faster, more digital media friendly wireless network standard.
Either way, I’m sure Verizon wireless will do something with the 700Mhz band, but it’ll probably not be anything revolutionary.
Hit the comments below to tell me what you wanted from the 700Mhz auction, or what you would do with it?
Graham
March 28, 2008 at 4:53 am
You bring up a good point about the difference between Google and Verizon. However, you can’t forget that Verizon has sided with Android saying that they will use the OS. Also, with Verizon’s new dedication to having an open network the possibilities could be endless. I can only hope that Verizon will do some good with their newly acquired chunk of the 700mhz spectrum. Either way, I am hoping for some pretty interesting announcements in the next couple of months!
April 21, 2009 at 1:03 pm
So, what exactly would you like to see Google do with the waves that Verizon won’t? My understanding is that Verizon is going to bring 4G to more subscribers in the U.S. Google can still leverage that network availability in their own products, like the Android, youtube, etc.
April 21, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Also, if it’s still open access… didn’t Google just dodge a bullet by not having to “own” the waves and still having laws that enable them to use them?