Google elaborates on the C Block auction, still happy with the results
If it wasn't clear going into the auction, it's pretty much obvious now that the dust has settled: Google wasn't in the 700MHz Block C auction to win it -- though it was certainly ready to pony up the cash in the event of a win. It was conjectured that Google was driving the bidding early on, in an effort to get hit that magical 4.6 billion reserve price that would require the winner to allow open access of devices and applications to the resulting network, and now Google has confirmed that it was pretty much a Google show in the early days of the auction. Apparently ten of the bidding rounds involved Google raising its own bid, "but it was clear, then and now, that Verizon Wireless ultimately was motivated to bid higher," reads the Google Public Policy Blog. It's worth noting that Google claims it would've nabbed the C Block license "at a price somewhat higher than the reserve price," but building out a network and becoming a major player in next-gen wireless internet would certainly be a large departure for the company, and we're sure there's a bit of relief over in Mountain View, CA at the moment.
