Maybe a hint here:
"
Google's strategy with Android likely will involve a wireless system that subsidizes the service and hardware of users in exchange for geotargeted, customized advertising. To that end, Google is planning to bid in the January 2008 auction for the license on the 700 mHz spectrum in the U.S., an ideal frequency for high speed broadband Internet access. Creating a wide coalition of partners that are independent of wireless telecommunication carriers could free mobile handset users from proprietary, closed services that have been characterized by slow service or limited features, opening the door for rapid development and integration of social networking, mobile video or mcommerce features."
"
Google has applied for several patents for mobile use, including mobile contextual advertising and payment schemes. An image-based inquiry system that would allow users to scan items with an integrated camera and immediately receive identification of those items using an integrated search engine could radically change commerce and how individuals navigate commerce and the world at large. Google's Mobile Adsense program is a glimpse of this emerging technological ecosystem."
What is Android? - Definition from Whatis.com - see also: android sdk
They didn't get the 700mhz spectrum, but apparently didn't really intend to - they just wanted to make sure the spectrum block reached a minumum reserve price -
Official Google Blog: Cone of silence (finally) lifts on the spectrum auction
Want to know who topped their bid? Verizon. But, the FCC adopted two of the four openness standards as part of that auction, hence the Android on Verizon. The erstwhile bidding enemies quickly thereafter became bedfellows (and in the nick of time, maybe, to save Motorola - whose hardware efforts in the mobile phone space have been lackluster at best since the RAZR).
The plot thickens - the next play seems to be in now-unused TV spectrum ("white space"), since the switch to digital. In Spring 2008, Google's (highly-paid) Washington D.C.-based telecom counsel was saying:
"
Google isn't interested in becoming a wireless service provider or building a network of its own, Whitt said. It does, however, envision the white spaces as a "unique opportunity to provide ubiquitous wireless access for all Americans" and a prime spot for use of mobile handsets running its open-source Android platform. Google hopes to start rolling out Android devices, which are being developed in conjunction with a 34-company consortium, as soon as summer or fall of this year, Whitt said. "
Google outlines proposal for 'Wi-Fi on steroids' | News Blog - CNET News
Part of that has come true (rolling out the Android handsets). What Google does best is monetize others' technology. I suspect Whitt was telling the truth. Google has no intention of going into the wireless carrier business. Yes, they may still hire mostly engineers but when you get down to it, Google is an ad company - that's where the billions come from. Everything else revolves around that.
Fatter pipe means more ad bandwidth. So, when you conveniently voice-search for "pizza", maybe soon Pizza Hut pays big bucks to float to the top and, more importantly, has all the marketing info it needs, through the appropriate licensing agreements with Google and your wireless carrier, on a pizza lover searching for a pepperoni fix in a particular geographic area - all thanks to not-evil Google. Google makes money, carrier makes money, and you get coupons mailed to you - or emailed to you, or bar-coded to you, etc.
The cablecos are crying about "interference" but what they really mean is, "don't gut our crappy, no-metrics ad revenue model or our $1M Super Bowl ads are going the way of the do-do."
Interestingly, in the TV spectrum play (which is ongoing due to the Feds delaying the digital tv switch again and again), Google is aligned with its supposed arch-nemesis, Microsoft. That might be because Microsoft, still no dummies whatever you may think of them, estimate that bandwidth is worth over $100 b-as-in-boy billion.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/microsoft-study-places-value-on-white-spaces-2009-09-23
Who could be a big loser if Google gets its wish from the FCC (aside from cablecos)? Verizon, who just bought all that C-block of 700mhz...which would become the cheap seats.
Google is a harsh mistress, basically lifting your wallet before crawling out the window and picking up the next guy.
