Verizon Reveals Plans For "C Block" Airwaves

eldavojohn writes "Now that Verizon has beaten Google in the 'block C' spectrum auction, what are they going to do with it? Well, as of today they've revealed their plans for world domination: they plan to speed up wireless internet connections. It may come as no surprise that they'll also be making this available for other manufacturer's devices. AT&T plans to do the same with their auction winnings, 'AT&T was second to Verizon, winning $6 billion in spectrum licenses, which it also plans to use for high-speed Internet service. But its executives said they didn't bid for the portion subject to the open-access rules. The parts it did land cost AT&T nearly three times as much per unit of spectrum than the portion Verizon bought.'"

Why create the semblance of a fight?

[QuietLagoon]

Verizon has beaten Google

Why create the semblance of a fight where one did not exist? All google really wanted was open air-waves.

Verizon didn't beat google, Verizon played right into google's hand.

Re:Maybe it's time

[CajunArson]

It's not really fascinating so much as it is logical. Why pay more for something you won't have exclusive control over? The balance here is that Verizon has agreed to give up exclusivity, in exchange for not having to pay as much for the spectrum. As reported here earlier, Google was actually pushing up bids just to make the reserve price for the spectrum. Even though I think the bids were sealed, I'm pretty sure Verizon had a good clue that it was Google that was pushing up the bids on the C-band, and it would be in Verizon's interest for it to at least own the band even if it would not have exclusive control over devices on the band.

Great... now just upgrade your business model!

[Doug52392]

Wireless Internet on cell phones is completely useless right now. Sure, it would be a great convience to use the full Internet on your phone, but there is a huge problem here: phone companies are quick and eager to start these new services, but most customers are still on those dumb "1 cent per kb" deals! They are upgrading the technology, but not the business model.

If Verizon, or any cell phone company for that matter want to ever succeed in making these services popular, they have to change their lame fees. 1 cent per kilobyte, or fees like that, were good back in the days of GPRS when all you had was a text based Internet on phones, but this simply won't do now that you can easily transfer over a dollar in kilobytes in 1 website!

I don't even bother using the Internet or text messages on my older phone, waaaay to expensive!

So if these companies want to ever hope to attract consumers to use the Internet services that would come out of this, they have to change their lame business model, or they will lose money.

Re:Why create the semblance of a fight?

[Firehed]

Perhaps - IANAL. But nobody forced the competition to outbid them, either. All parties knew the terms of the auction.

Walled Internet, here we come ...

[ScrewMaster]

Verizon (and all the other Telcos and ISPs) want us in C-Block all right. Right next to that big guy named "Bubba" with the twinkle in his eye.

Seriously, I don't believe a word of what's coming out of Verizon's collective mouth. I really hope I'm wrong, but "open access" and "Telco" really don't belong in the same sentence.

Google "played" the carriers? I don't think so.

[clicktician]

Verizon and AT&T networks have always been open. They even brag about it. You can easily buy a handset from a variety of manufacturers and both Verizon and AT&T will hook you right up.

The problem is when these carriers contract for their own custom handsets they lock these models to their own networks. That makes it hard to switch carriers without buying a new phone.

The networks are open already. It's the products that use them which are not. So, what really did Google do? I don't know. Google has always had the freedom to build a handset that runs on either of these networks. So where is it?