[Sly Fox]

I have to admit I never expected to see the 700 mHz spectrum auction brought up on this board, much less WiMAX. I admit I'm impressed, HMO.

I can't say much due to confidentiality agreements but I can tell you due to public knowledge that Sprint's acquisition of Nextel has been a disaster. The company has major issues and that's part of the impetus for Google to sniff around (if that is indeed the case).

[Hold My Own]

Its all because of it's Google...if they venture into the pooper scooper business I'm sure I'll find a way to bring that here...

...I agree, Sprint could use a boost...and a boost would be when you get swallowed by a billion dollar business that is on a meteoric rise


But what I REALLY think they are trying to do by leaking this information is make everyone even more willing to join their committee to get on the same page....Google's in such a good position b/c everyone knows what ever they want to do they can do, and with authority therefore you have to take them seriously in every aspect

Facebook may find this out (after talking to Scorchy)

[El Scorcho]

While I'm enjoying all the tech-y business talk, I must admit that I'm afraid we're missing the forest for the trees here. To be more concise, is it possible that we could be looking at the Google Cup for NASCAR in the '08 season?

[Fumblerooskies]

SWEET!

NASCAR can have the GOOGLE CUP!

[Hold My Own]

NickCatal writes "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google plans to bid $4.6 Billion on the 700 MHz radio spectrum being auctioned off by the FCC. What is most interesting is that they are not planning on partnering with other companies to raise the cash, they are going to spend their own cash and possibly borrow some. With partners such as Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile in their 'Open Handset Alliance' is this a sign that they are willing to directly compete with the people they courted to join?"


Scorcy...would you dump the google stock now? I think some holders are getting very nervous seeing how their money is about to get spread out very thin...

[El Scorcho]

Scorcy...would you dump the google stock now?

If it were me, probably. I mean, if we're playing hypotheticals, I would have purchased Google early on and probably dumped it long before now. I'm a nervous nelly. So, I may not be the best person to ask. They seem to be doing fine with their revenue stream, but if I still had any money tied up in them, I'd let go now and put it somewhere else. I think their bubble is going to burst (at least somewhat) eventually. My friends out west tell me they operate pretty much in the same kind of "dot com" culture that was going on in the 90's. A lot of their early employees are cashing out their stock options and leaving. There seems to be a lot of internal stagnation right now just because the company has grown so large so quickly. It's really interesting to read about.

Obviously, the real key to all of this is what will Google do with the spectrum if it wins it? The rumors have swirled for some time that Google would roll out a free, ad supported, Internet service across the U.S. The company already owns enough dark fiber around the U.S. to build out their own Internet backbone, putting them directly in competition with the giant telecoms and ISP's. The problem everyone had always seen with this was getting wireless covering. If Google wins this spectrum auction, I suspect they're going to attempt to get into the WiMax biz and deploy this long-rumored network.

That's my speculation based on years of reading tech blogs, new sites, etc. I could be completely wrong, but there's my guess. So the question I'd ask myself would be, do I think they could succeed in this and would I be willing to put money on it?

I think they might succeed, but it's too risky for someone like me to put money on. I don't have enough to play with to take those kinds of risks.

I'll hush up now.

[Hold My Own]

People are starting to feel the pressure of Google...

http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9823795-16.html

Verizon opens up its network
Posted by Matt Asay Post a comment

If nothing else, the threat of Google appears to have pushed Verizon into opening up its network to any device and any software, as the Wall Street Journal reports. The wireless industry has long thrown around the canard that it had to restrict access to protect its networks, but Verizon's move casts this policy into doubt and paves the way for the mobile Internet to become as big as the desktop Internet.

Of course, we still have the problem created by having different network standards in the US (CDMA, which Verizon uses, versus GSM, which AT&T uses, for example), but it's a great start:

The notion of openness in the U.S. is complicated by the country's disparate wireless networks. In Europe, cellphones roam seamlessly from network to network because all of them run under the same standard....

Verizon Wireless...said it will publish early next year technical standards for the development community, which are necessary for designing software, applications and devices that can run on its network. The carrier said that any device that meets the minimum technical standards will be activated on the network. It hopes to have new devices and applications available to customers by the end of next year.

This is a great start. Welcome to the open(ing) world, Verizon!

Scorchy...how long until I can give my sprint phone to my Verizon friend so they can use it on their network?


EDIT: arent they both CDMA? What's keeping me from doing that now?

[El Scorcho]

EDIT: arent they both CDMA? What's keeping me from doing that now?

They're both CDMA, but your Sprint phone is locked to the Sprint network. Some phones can be unlocked via software and some phones (not including GSM phones) are hardware locked. If you had an unlocked CDMA phone, I don't believe there are any technical barriers in your way. Current company policies might be another story.

For what it's worth, Alltel is also CDMA.

[Hold My Own]

Scorchy help me understand this blog...so can I switch the sprint phone over to Verizon?

http://blogs.zdnet.com/mobile-gadgeteer/?p=699

So you can bring a Sprint phone to Verizon, what’s the big deal?

You may have read the announcement this morning that Verizon Wireless is opening up its network so that customers with qualified handsets and software can plug into their network. While this may initially look like an opening up of the network to embrace customers and give them choices, I don’t think it is really anything special after a further look. The handset will have to be a CDMA handset and thus the only other carrier that people may move from is Sprint. And if you look at the handsets offered by Sprint and Verizon Wireless, Verizon already has Sprint beat in the number and quality of offerings. There may be a few customers who are not happy with their Sprint service that move to Verizon Wireless, but the GSM networks run by AT&T and T-Mobile in the U.S. and just about everyone else in the world are a much broader market to open up to. Verizon may be moving to a GSM network in the future with their LTE (Long Term Evolution) network and then this announcement would mean much more in terms of opening up to everyone. LTE was not discussed by Verizon with this press release.

This announcement seems to be designed to bring a bit of focus back to Verizon after the Open Handset Alliance announcement a couple weeks ago where Sprint is actually one of the members. I understand that Verizon Wireless does have an extensive network that many people are happy with, but I am a fan of the GSM networks due to the ability to use virtually any SIM-unlocked device I buy here in the U.S. or internationally with my local US network. AT&T and T-Mobile should make the same announcement about opening up their networks since you can already use any SIM-unlocked device you want on their networks. They are not officially supported by their customer service, just like devices brought to Verizon won’t be either.

[El Scorcho]

Yes. Next year you will be able to take Sprint phones over to Verizon, if your Sprint phone is unlocked. CDMA phones are tricky, because they're not "locked" in the same way GSM phones are. So, some of them may be able to make calls without doing anything, but some will probably need some kind of code from Sprint for everything to work. I believe that under changes made last year that Sprint will have to provide that unlock code, however. I'm going to have to do some more reading on this to get all of my ducks in a row, but I'll get back to you.

[Hold My Own]

Thanks man...if it wasnt for the title about Sprint I never would have guessed you would be able to b/c the body of the article really didnt give much info...let me know when you figure something out! Thanks

[El Scorcho]

Looks like Verizon is joining Google's Open Handset Alliance and switching to GSM for their next-gen network.

http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?s ... 04/1637219

[PAmedic]

Looks like Verizon is joining Google's Open Handset Alliance and switching to GSM for their next-gen network.

http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?s ... 04/1637219

English, please- for the paramedic

[El Scorcho]

Looks like Verizon is joining Google's Open Handset Alliance and switching to GSM for their next-gen network.

http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?s ... 04/1637219

English, please- for the paramedic

Verizon is interested in the OS Google is making for phones now. They're also switching to the world-wide standard GSM protocol for their new super duper high-speed network. GSM is awesome as a protocol, because it uses SIM cards. SIM cards are little cards you can pop out of one phone and into another, basically moving your phone number on the fly. Combined with Verizon's previous announcement about opening up their network it also means you would be able to move your phone between AT&T/Verizon/T-Mobile.

[Fumblerooskies]

and if you have free roaming on your current carrier, the ability to switch on the fly helps you how?

[El Scorcho]

and if you have free roaming on your current carrier, the ability to switch on the fly helps you how?

If you travel overseas often. You can take your existing phone with you, buy a prepaid SIM card for a carrier there, pop it in and not have to pay the ridiculous overseas fees to your American carrier. Other than that, switching carriers on the fly is pretty useless.

I was talking about switching phones on the fly. That can be handy if you work outside or in a nasty job and just want a $20 beater phone to carry with you, but a decent phone away from work. Just an example. It's also nice because it means you don't have to deal with your carrier activating your phone and all of that crap. You just buy a new phone and put your SIM card in.

[Fumblerooskies]

Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense, now.

[PAmedic]

now I'm with you- does this mean (in theory) that if I have no cell signal, I can put my Simm in your phone and gab away?

[El Scorcho]

now I'm with you- does this mean (in theory) that if I have no cell signal, I can put my Simm in your phone and gab away?

Assuming that the problem with the signal is the quality of your cell phone versus mine, then yes.

[PAmedic]

hmmmm

interesting.

(thinking how to steal my brothers' Verizon Blackberry)