Google Bidding on 3G

From Daily Wireless:

"Google's co-founder Larry Page today sparked another round of rumors that Google could become a wireless broadband service provider, says Tom's Networking.

During the Q1 earnings call, Page said that the firm was always looking into new ways to "expand" Internet access possibilities for users. While Page did not confirm any existing rumors [of participating in the upcoming AWS auction], he did not reject them as wrong either.

Schmidt, asked about radio spectrum, said;

"We don't have a huge bid being prepared." He joked that a random engineer might be working on a side project without his knowledge. "It would take some work for an engineer on 20 percent time to prepare a billion dollar bid," Schmidt said.

The Advanced Wireless Services Auction (AWS), is scheduled to be held this June (pdf). Initial applications to participate in the sale are due by May 10. It is targeting "3G" cellular using the paired 1710-1755 and 2110-2155 MHz frequency bands. Google, Amazon and eBay have been rumored to be preparing a bid, perhaps competing with traditional wireless providers such as AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth."

From Tom's Hardware:

"After yet another rock-solid quarter performance, Google is in the financial position to become a major player in bidding for spectrum bandwidth, if it intends to. The company currently has about $8.5 billion in its warchest; the stock price closed Thursday trading at $415.00, giving the company a market capitalization of just over $123 billion. For the first quarter, the firm reported revenues of $2.25 billion, up 79% over Q1 of 2005 and a profit of $592 million, up 60% over the same quarter last year."