Though it was more-or-less settled in speculation, Google has committed itself to spending at least $4.6B on a chunk of the valuable "C block" going up for auction this Janurary. Some prime motivators include a change in wholesaling rules by the FCC and Verizon dropping their lawsuit to halt open access (even though the CTIA is continuing that fight and AT&T is still being a crybaby about it). Analysts think Google might team up with an existing wireless partner for the bid, though this seems to run counter to their intention to offer up an open network for use by any provider and any device. Given the steep price tag of this prime piece of wireless real estate, it's unlikely that Google will bid for spectrum in the UK anytime soon.
In other 700MHz news, the FCC awarded a license for 10MHz of bandwidth to PSST, the only company to apply for the job of building a nationwide emergency communications network. With the backing of various fire and police organizations, it was pretty much a shoe-in. The network is expected to get all police and fire departments nationwide using compatible equipment, though there's some stiff resistance to buying a lot of expensive new equipment when the time comes.
