Google recently made its plans clear for the soon available 700MHz frequencies to be sold by US licensing authorities (FCC). These frequencies will become available when analogue broadcast television is removed from the airwaves as everyone goes digital. The spectrum will be auctioned but before this happens, Google wants the FCC to make sure the rules of the game enforce an open approach to the bandwidth. This is a blocking manoeuvre against telecom companies who want full control over issues like pricing and software. Google’s end game is to deliver high speed internet for free that is advertising supported.

This is going to impact mobile and fixed telecom company revenue models and really shake up the industry. Since the spectrum auction is only happening in the US it’s difficult to see how Google might expand its concept internationally. It might work by establishing the principle in the US first and thus showing the rest of the world the delights of free ad supported broadband to the home and to mobile handsets.

One of the many features of this section of the spectrum is its ability to work through walls - your tv set will pick up a signal through walls much more easily than your wi-fi router or mobile phone. A high speed internet connection using these frequencies will have a great deal of power to reach the consumer over the last mile and therefore circumvent normal ISP’s. There are many hurdles to cross first, like interoperability and hardware. But you can’t criticise Google for the breadth of vision and they certainly have the deep pockets to make it happen.