Wireless Unlimited: FCC Approves Open Access

Buy whatever cell phone you want, then pick your carrier. That vision of an open-access wireless experience was approved on Tuesday in a much-awaited vote by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

By a vote of 4-1, a bipartisan majority approved the plan submitted by FCC Chair Kevin Martin. Martin, a Republican, was joined by the two Democratic commissioners and one of the two Republicans in approving his plan to allow open choices on about one-third of the spectrum to be auctioned early next year. One Republican Commissioner, Robert McDowell, voted against open access.

The so-called “wholesale” provision, backed by Google and a coalition of companies and public-interest organizations, was not approved. This provision would have required the licensee to sell access to the bandwidth on a wholesale basis to resellers. The two Democrats have said they supported the wholesale provision.

Will Google Enter Wireless?

The lack of the wholesale provision puts in doubt whether Google will participate in the auction at all. Recently, the search giant said it was prepared to spend at least the $4.6 billion minimum to participate in the auction, but only if the FCC adopted the principles of open access pushed by Google and its coalition.

However, Google did leave itself some wiggle room. In one of its statements on the subject, issued earlier this month, the search giant said that its participation would depend on the FCC adopting “a framework requiring greater competition and consumer choice” for the auctioned spectrum, which could apply to the plan approved on Tuesday.

Some observers have suggested that the wholesale provision would have discouraged the big telecommunications companies from bidding, as their role in wireless communications would have been reduced, at least in part. AT&T and Verizon Wireless opposed the wholesale provision, although AT&T recently endorsed Martin’s open access plan. Verizon Wireless had…