Apple Considering Participating in FCC Wireless Auction?

[Sweetfeld28]

I think that Apple, Inc. and Google should team up and buy the spectrum. It would be great for both companies. For Google it would be great for their 'gPhone', and for Apple it could mean a faster and better iPod & 'iLife' [not the program suite] experiance.

 

[KiraDouji]

Google or Apple - either would be better than any of the companies currently in control. Especially considering the "two tier internet" argument going on right now.

- Kira

 

[EagerDragon]

Let Google buy it, they can make it free with advertising or something. Not a good market for Apple to be in, better work together on this.

I already have plenty of ad(s), don't need anymore. Clean wireless connection that does not get in the way and only shows me the data I would be ideal.

 

[RRK]

I agree with those who think Apple will try to help Google win the spectrum. More then likely Apple would secure some bandwidth so that they can throw some cash behind Google's bid.

Also, I was thinking about the problem some are bringing up concerning the hardware it would take to get the network going. Since most of the country is already covered with this frequency in the form of TV signals couldn't they maybe upgrade existing antenna to roll the network out more quickly?

 

[Ibjr]

Seems Steve is trying to be the next technology communist...

Only matter of time that it's his turn to get sued because taking over everything (just like Bill did...)

Say what? Communist? Reign in that diction.

For the Feds to go after Apple, the computer company will need a lot more market share and move to stop others from competing in the same. For the most part Apple has moved toward more openness and interoperability.

Anticompetitive behavior hasn't beens seen.

 

[Ibjr]

Supposedly Apple has given AT&T a US monopoly on iPhone sales for the first five years. So if Apple did participate, would it restrict access to Macbooks, etc, with WiMAX cards, or would it sell phones from Nokia, Motorola, cursing "Damn you AT&T!" between its teeth while rival AT&T sells Apple's phones for it's network...?

No. It wouldn't.

While the documents are not public, it appears that AT&T has an exclusive on iPhone sales but there is no indication about data carriers. I highly doubt Apple would grant a 5 year deal and ink the wireless options. Apple realizes technology changes. Newer iphones and Ipod touches would support the Google spectrum.

 

[Orng]

Bit like American football with the "World Series" - only invite Americans

Baseball, not football, but Canadian teams can play in the World Series as well, so it's not just Americans. Toronto won it in 1992, but after a year or so of gloating about that, we all realized that we don't really like baseball that much. We have our baseball teams but we don't actually give a damn about them.

 

[BKKbill]

For the Feds to go after Apple, the computer company will need a lot more market share and move to stop others from competing in the same. For the most part Apple has moved toward more openness and interoperability.

Anticompetitive behavior hasn't beens seen.

Just who is this apple computer you speak of or did you mean possibly Apple Inc.

 

[Random Ping]

Doesn't AT&T have a 5 year exclusive on the iPhone?

Nothing official has been made public. Also, there are probably break-up clauses in the contract. Finally, there may be some back channels that Apple could use such as Skype over WiMax on the iPod Touch, which could bypass the AT&T deal.

 

[Random Ping]

Personally, I think we would see Apple start an iTunes recording company(actually signing artists) before we see them become a wireless provider.

I agree (I've been surprised Apple hasn't done this already, or at least encouraged artists to go with smaller labels where they can get more revenue from their iTunes sales).

Apple is suddenly running into entrenched companies (from music to movies to wireless providers) that are hindering Apple's ability to move in certain ways or at certain speeds. At some point I expect something to change dramatically.

 

[Random Ping]

And open the damn OS to developers!

Now that Apple has released iPod Touch with WiFi, I am expecting Apple to get a lot more pressure between now and WWDC 08. In fact, with Leopard release in about 6 weeks, and no major new OS on the horizon for several years, I expect Apple to use the iPod Touch SDK as its major draw for developers at the next WWDC 08.

 

[Random Ping]

Apple to Spend its Cash?

With both Apple and Google sitting on a ton of cash, both generating a lot of cash each quarter, and (at least Apple) having no debt, I expect one or both to start spending that cash soon to open new markets.

With the current credit crunch, Apple and Google's cash positions may give them an advantage over other companies. And as many have speculated, Apple and Google seem to make a good team -- similar personalities, located nearby each other, virtually no overlapping product line (right now), common adversaries and road blocks.

The question is, What new market would make sense?

 

[ngdesign]

Say what? Communist? Reign in that diction.

For the Feds to go after Apple, the computer company will need a lot more market share and move to stop others from competing in the same. For the most part Apple has moved toward more openness and interoperability.

Anticompetitive behavior hasn't beens seen.

Because thats just the beginning. The way how apple is fighting its way back into the market the last couple of years, just matter of time they'll have enough market share to be in the trouble.
1 more reason for them to get google as backup

 

[Unspeaked]

Because thats just the beginning. The way how apple is fighting its way back into the market the last couple of years, just matter of time they'll have enough market share to be in the trouble.
1 more reason for them to get google as backup

Yeah, because Google doesn't have any monopoly accusations pointed at them...

 

[Ibjr]

Because thats just the beginning. The way how apple is fighting its way back into the market the last couple of years, just matter of time they'll have enough market share to be in the trouble.
1 more reason for them to get google as backup

Sure, if you use a metric as restrictive as consumer laptop sales.

 

[morespce54]

You must have missed the period in history where Apple made digital cameras, TVs, CD players, printers, etc.

Does this look familiar?

Or this maybe?

OMG!!! (Bad) memories flashback...
Wasn't there printers too?

Yes...

 

[Papajohn56]

I already have plenty of ad(s), don't need anymore. Clean wireless connection that does not get in the way and only shows me the data I would be ideal.

And how do you propose they profit off of this? Google is not backed by taxes, they are still in fact a corporation that's purpose is to make money.

 

[Papajohn56]

OMG!!! (Bad) memories flashback...
Wasn't there printers too?

Yes...

Hey you shut up, Apple LaserWriters were great, and we still use one from back in the day. It still has better print quality than several new ones.

 

[72930]

And how do you propose they profit off of this? Google is not backed by taxes, they are still in fact a corporation that's purpose is to make money.

If Google.com was forcebly people's Home Page while on Googleweb (nice name, huh?) it would be fine...

 

[Analog Kid]

Also, I always thought the reason why 900MHz carriers get worse reception is because the towers have less range (just what I was told by a guy in carphone warehouse over a decade ago, but reminiscent of something i learnt in school, and evidenced by anyone i've ever known on orange/one2one), so they need more of them than the 1800Mhz carriers do, and can't afford as good a network. I'd have thought something similar was true of 700MHz towers vs. the 1900 (?) MHz GSM towers in use in the States, meaning yet more costs for Apple/Google.

The main limitation isn't so much range as bandwidth... You're only getting a few MHz of spectrum (assume Hz and bits per second are about 1:1, though that's not fixed in stone). You need to share that bandwidth with everyone in the coverage area of a single antenna. You can put more than one antenna on a tower and focus it on a region, but there's a limit to that. The next best solution is to limit the transmission power and put up more towers, particularly in urban areas. In rural areas, you have less population density and you can boost the power and cover the area with fewer towers. The suburbs are the worst case scenario because of how the population clusters.

A 20MHz allotment in the middle of the 700MHz band would be quite nice for a data rollout, because it gets good penetration of buildings (roughly assume penetration goes down as frequency goes up), but it's going to require a lot of towers and short range to get reasonable data rates.

Wow. I never knew of WiMax. So is this the system T-Mobile has developed? I recall reading something about a system that uses WiFi or such and UTMS or something, I'm totally out of my league on this one. Any help? Thanks!

WiMax is a long haul data network. It's seen as a way to get data to mobile users and as a way around needing to lay cable for rural users (which is expensive due to the distances between termination points). Sprint has been rolling it out in the US.

I'm curious just how much room there is available for auction, and how many companies could potentially win chunks of it. Is it possible, for example, for an apple/google partnership to carve out a chunk of spectrum just big enough to offer the kind of wireless services we're talking about here? Even if the other providers grab the majority?

This is a pretty good overview.
http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=13301
http://wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/data/bandplans/700MHzBandPlan.pdf
The long and short of it is there's a good chunk of spectrum on the block, in a prime band, and it's broken into different allotments each with different rules and coverage areas. Some are national, some are very local. Because of the breakdown, it's possible for several companies to get pieces.

Also of interest: the auction winner has 4 years to get a working service covering a third of their coverage area.

 

[Kenn Marks]

Think Different - Wirlessly

Buying this spectrum doesn't mean you have to develop the infrastructure immediately Apple bought the Worldcom Data center a couple years ago and they have the innovative expertise to redefine how we communicate we cannot rely on the "Baby Bells" to change their stripes they are still operating on the traditions of their heritage. So what we would have is incompetency at a new frequency. Since that frequecy range has such penetration power fewer towers would be necessary to cover a broader geographical area. Hopefully they will learn from their startup of what is now AOL, after turning it over to Mr Steve Case to operate as a separate entity AOL then became Mac unfriendly. So for Steve to keep control of how things operate you must own the Farm if you want the control of its produce. The Price of the bandwidth will not go down in price and can probably be sold off at a later date. Unless a use plan is necessary to even bid. As for upsetting local ISP's they are well aware of the competition with local Phone and Cable companies daily wooing away customers. Just like the iPhone is making people rethink Cellular phone purchases and contract maybe Apple can do the same to Wireless Comunication. As mrgreen4242 said maybe Apple could purchase it and then lease it out and then control how it is used using other peoples money.

 

[ErikCLDR]

The point I am making is that a major company such as gateway (well, they once were) tried to expand too quickly with there TV's, cameras, etc.

Apple would be creating an entire network, which is a much bigger financial endeavor than just slapping your name on a TV.

That is like Ford deciding they want to make Jewelry.

 

[Analog Kid]

Buying this spectrum doesn't mean you have to develop the infrastructure immediately Apple bought the Worldcom Data center a couple years ago and they have the innovative expertise to redefine how we communicate we cannot rely on the "Baby Bells" to change their stripes they are still operating on the traditions of their heritage. So what we would have is incompetency at a new frequency. Since that frequecy range has such penetration power fewer towers would be necessary to cover a broader geographical area. Hopefully they will learn from their startup of what is now AOL, after turning it over to Mr Steve Case to operate as a separate entity AOL then became Mac unfriendly. So for Steve to keep control of how things operate you must own the Farm if you want the control of its produce. The Price of the bandwidth will not go down in price and can probably be sold off at a later date. Unless a use plan is necessary to even bid. As for upsetting local ISP's they are well aware of the competition with local Phone and Cable companies daily wooing away customers. Just like the iPhone is making people rethink Cellular phone purchases and contract maybe Apple can do the same to Wireless Comunication. As mrgreen4242 said maybe Apple could purchase it and then lease it out and then control how it is used using other peoples money.

Actually, they do need to build the infrastructure immediately. They've got 4 years (see my links above). I'm not sure what the rules are on subletting the band, but I do know there are very strict usage regulations. One thing you can't do is win the spectrum and then sit on it.

Hadn't realized Apple bought the WorldCom data center. Was that to drive their iTunes/.Mac stuff?

 

[mergatroidal]

And then the alarm clock went off and I woke up, ...

What's next?! A flotilla of iSatellites in orbit around earth? And then what? The Moon? The Saturnian satellite Titan??

Can't anyone put a stop to this madman, Steven Paul Jobs?

 

[RedTomato]

Hopefully they will learn from their startup of what is now AOL, after turning it over to Mr Steve Case to operate as a separate entity AOL then became Mac unfriendly.

Steve Jobs set up AOL? I can't find much reference to that - only a mention in wikipedia that there was a joint project between Quantum Link (AOL's precursor) and Apple in about 1989.