Apple May Bid on U.S. Mobile Phone Airwave
September 10, 2007 9:53 AM | Apple | Comments (0)
| According to a BusinessWeek report, Apple may following Google's lead to join the wireless spectrum auction. Two sources have told BusinessWeek that Steve Jobs and Apple have been studying the implications of joining the auction which will be held January 16, 2008. The winners of the auction will be granted rights to use the spectrum that analog TV broadcasters are giving back to the government in 2009 because the TV broadcasters are moving towards digital television. The signals are called "beachfront property" by the FCC because the signals at 700Mhz spectrum will provide much faster Internet access than today's cellular or Wi-Fi networks. Also, the signals can easily go through buildings and work glitch-free, even in bad weather. Apple currently has a cool $14 billion in cash and can easily afford the $4.6 billion minimum bid requirement and can easily come up with the $9 billion that's expected to win a portion of the wireless spectrum. Other potential bidders include Google, DirecTV, eBay owner of Skype's Net Calling software. |  |
If Apple wins the bid then Apple wouldn't need AT&T to deliver songs, TV shows, and other digital services to its iPhone. One major complaint of the iPhone is the speed of network access to A&T. Also Apple could charge much less that the $1,440 for the 2 year agreement with AT&T that customers must pay for the iPhone's service. Another option is that Apple could give the service away for free and make money from advertising and selling services such as iTunes. The next few months should be very interesting! The telecommunications industry is ready for a shake up!
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