I've heard that a good compromise leaves everyone unhappy. If that's truly the case then the rules for the upcoming 700MHz auction must be the best compromise in the history of telecommunications. Verizon has decided to sue the FCC over the auction requirements as they are particularly unhappy with the open device requirements attached to the airwaves. Even the small fries are ticked off. M2Z Networks has pledged to sue the FCC because their proposal to build a nationwide wireless network without having to purchase the spectrum was rejected by the FCC. Fontline Wireless was pretty cheesed off too, decrying the $4.6B minimum reserve price to bid. With all of this rancor, it'll be a small miracle if the licenses ever get auctioned off.
Even with all of the uncertainty, Google still has it's hat in the ring to try and grab one of those tasty Class C blocks despite publicly stating that they don't have an interest in telecommunications at the moment. It's even spawned the wild rumor that Apple would try and get it on some of the action though analysts strongly doubt this is true. With all of the intense lobbying efforts, it's hard to tell who's doing what in this mess. We do know that several of them are trying to hedge their bets on making 2.1GHz an open band similar to 900MHz and 2.4GHz even though the likelihood that the 700MHz will be cornered is very, very slim.
