The bMighty Blog -- Business & E-Business

This January, the FCC is planning to auction off frequencies in the 700 MHz band. Who cares, right? Wrong. For small to midsize businesses, the auction could impact them where they feel it the most: their wallet.

But while the potential cost of wireless service could be up for grabs, other, more elusive aspects of Internet use, like more freedom of use, more innovative uses, and improved service to underserved and rural areas, are also at loose ends.

Writes Wired Magazine: "The FCC's 700-MHz-spectrum auction, now set for January 16, 2008, has the potential to affect everything from the cost of your wireless service to the competitive landscape among U.S. mobile providers for years to come."

The magazine's FAQs about the auction covers pretty much all the basics of the auction from what is the auction exactly — the "largest portion of spectrum to become available in years" — to why it has generated so much interest — "the 700-MHz band should provide better coverage than current cellular bands" — to what kind of services the frequency could support.

Here is where things get a little complicated. As InternetNews notes, "To encourage new players to bid for the 700 MHz frequencies and inject new competition in wireless services, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decided in late July that consumers would be allowed to use any mobile devices and download any applications on one portion of the spectrum."

The FCC's decision was helped by lobbying from Google, Skype and Frontline Wireless for more "open access" on the frequencies. But Verizon Wireless just filed a lawsuit challenging these "open access" rules.

InternetNews continues: "Proponents of open access, particularly Google and other high-tech companies, criticized Verizon's action, arguing that the rules were crafted to foster greater innovation and greater freedom for Internet users."

Their reaction is not surprising but the move is also angering Verizon's customer base, according to BetaNews. "Late this week, tech-savvy bloggers have taken the company to task for what appears to them to be a whiny, unappreciative attitude, as well as a stark opposition to openness in general."

Bad attitude notwithstanding, for wireless users, what matters here is how they are going to get their wireless service and how much it's going to cost them. And this decision could make all the difference. Stay tuned.

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