FCC chairman differs with Google’s plans for airwaves

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin said an airwaves-leasing proposal by Google Inc. might discourage bidders in a government auction from developing their networks.

Google said last week that it would bid at least $4.6 billion for the airwaves if the winner of the auctioned spectrum was required to lease access to the airwaves at wholesale rates. That may make bidders “less willing” to build out that network, Martin said Tuesday.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google, owner of the most popular online search engine, has sparred with AT&T; Inc. and Verizon Wireless, the two biggest U.S. mobile-phone companies, over rules for the auction. The carriers plan to use the airwaves to offer more of their own mobile Web content, while Google wants the network to be open to all devices. Google also wants the spectrum to be resold if there’s excess capacity.

The auction rules should provide “maximum incentive to invest in the underlying wireless network,” Martin said during a hearing of a House subcommittee on telecommunications and the Internet.

Martin, who has proposed a minimum bid price of $4.6 billion for the spectrum Google is seeking, wants the winner to open its network to any legal mobile device or application. Although his plan would allow companies to resell airwaves, it wouldn’t require it.

“The proposal I put forth isn’t designed to facilitate entry of any particular company” into the wireless market, Martin said. “It’s not about any of the companies but about the consumers.”