Everyone Tells All About 700 MHz Plans

And the race is off! Now that the mandatory silence time following the 700 MHz auction is over, the smack talk about who really "won" has begun!

First, we have Verizon, who held a call with shareholders to discuss plans for their C Block victory. For them, this purchase was more of a "future plans" kind of thing, not so much a "we're excited about what we can do with this tomorrow" kind of thing. They plan on using the spectrum to roll out their 4G network and fortifying and improving their mobile broadband network. Not a word was brought up about their forced openness on the spectrum and what they plan on doing with that or how to handle it, but it's clear they feel like they get the better end of the deal as they mentioned things about their piece of the spectrum pie covering more area and reaching more people.

Then comes AT&T, who sounded more like they were pointing and laughing at Verizon than boasting about what they can do on their network. After making almost identical points as Verizon concerning their 4G and mobile broadband plans on the spectrum, AT&T went on further to say they are far better off than Verizon because they are not subject to that pesky openness requirement. Without that requirement, they have more free reign over their piece and less regulation.

What about Google? Well, they promise that they really meant their bids and really, really wanted the spectrum. For reals. They weren't just trying to get the price to the minimum reserve price so that whomever wins would be forced to have a modicum of openness.... not at all. They just didn't feel like bidding after that price was met, that's all.

AT&T's claim may actually be true, and although both their calls left a lot of information to be desired, what is clear is that we as consumers will not see any change for a good few years. The spectrum isn't even up until Spring of '09, and 4G won't start rolling out until later that year at the earliest. Not to mention the testing and testing and testing.., then development and more development... it's going to be awhile. But it's exciting none-the-less though, right?

AT&T to Use 700MHz Spectrum for High-Speed 4G LTE Network [Gizmodo]
Verizon's spectrum plans: Speedier wireless broadband [CNet]