In what could be a spot-on analysis of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s real intention with the upcoming FCC radio auctions, Jeff Lindsay with Sanford Bernstein says Google isn't in the auction to win anything. In general, you bid to either win what you're bidding on or you're hedging your bets as you shill bid in an attempt to pump the bid price for the competition. With that said, what could Google be up to if it's ready to bid on the FCC's wireless airwaves, but has no intention on really using any radio spectrum in the future?

Lindsay indicates that Google's recent moves in the wireless industry have already made the market realize open policies for customers and devices are the wave of the wireless future. In effect, its goal is already achieved to a point where it really does not need its own radio spectrum to directly compete as a wireless service provider.

Would Google really get knee-deep in an area that's outside of its core business, and end up letting that become a distraction? Google CEO Eric Schmidt has repeatedly said that the mobile frontier harbors much more promise than even the PC web browser frontier it currently helps dominate. Was Google's real intention with applying to bid for the FCC auctions coming up shortly just a scare tactic to cement its open handset alliance position? Possibly -- but now it's playing in a new sandbox with established bullies. The auctions should be very interesting.

Just a few months ago, the upcoming FCC radio wave auctions were generating a slew of interest from non-traditional telecom players like Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG). With the 700MHz (megahertz) being opened up once analog TV waves go away in 2009, this is quite simply one of the last large pieces of radio bandwidth that companies will be able to buy into and use for all kinds of wireless services. But wait -- is interest petering out already just before the auctions begin later this month?

When Frontline Wireless dropped out of the bidding just recently, the possibility of a new national wireless carrier went down the tubes. Did incumbent telecoms like AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE: VZ) lose all interest in bidding themselves? That's the thinking in the market right now, but how far that thinking goes compared to who will actually bid (and how high) remains to be seen until the auction begins.

All hope is not lost for the FCC, though. The discounted portion of the airwave auction that Frontline Wireless was seeking contained stipulations to share airwave space with public safety and related utilities. With no other national airwave bidder in line for that kind of radio spectrum, the FCC may be forced to re-auction it at a later data minus some of the stipulations that contributed to it being discounted in the first place. If the normal 700MHz radio spectrum is already taken, that could be a dead end for the FCC. Or, it could sell that specific radio spectrum for a much lower price that it had originally envisioned.

The FCC released a bidder list this week for its upcoming radio bandwidth auctions to be held in late January. These FCC radio auctions have attracted a wide assortment of companies that previously have had little to no presence in the wireless business. Among those companies are Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) -- whose wireless ambitions are still clouded in secrecy -- and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM).

Qualcomm is an interesting participant, since it already owns a decent chunk of radio waves in the 700 MHz area, where it operates the little-known MediaFLO wireless television service, and it secured the radio frequency currently used by analog television channel 55 as well. Does Qualcomm want wireless carriers to build phones that will "listen" to its upcoming wireless television channels? Most likely, although the company's effort is still in its infancy.

Charlie Ergen's EchoStar (NASDAQ: DISH) may want to get into the FCC auction as well, after pulling out of another FCC auction in 2006 when the bids became inflated beyond what it wanted to pay. Does EchoStar want to compete with established telephone companies like AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) to bring telecom services directly to customers? That's the going theory since wireless is quite a bit cheaper than installing fiber optic lines all over the country.

All in all, the FCC released a list of 266 companies that had applied to bid on next month's radio auctions on radio frequencies that will be vacated when analog television signals end in 2009.

With Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) set to bid billions in next month's FCC wireless auctions, will the search giant be joining with any other company to wrestle control of the wireless industry into another direction? Google's CEO does sit on the board of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), of course. But the question just posed will be answered pretty darn soon as many of us sit on our heels.

This past week, Google released a new "entry point" for its most popular services that runs on Apple's iPhone and gives near-immediate access to its prominent services: Google Maps, Gmail, Docs & Spreadsheets, Calendar and more. What is Google up to? Colluding with Apple to make the underlying wireless carrier service on the iPhone mostly irrelevant? Yes.

If you have an iPhone or even an iPod Touch, visit Google.com to see all the new goods. It's not a software download, but a presentation that gives access to all of Google's better products from one touch screen. But I ask again -- is this Google's way of muscling into Apple's territory, or using the iPhone's Safari web browser to make each iPhone user a complete Google convert? A little of both, I suppose -- and it's a great move for Google, given the ubiquity of the iPhone, still just in its infancy.

Cox Communications Inc., the largest private cable television provider in the U.S., said Monday that it plans on participating in the FCC's radio spectrum auctions in January.

So far, it looks like Cox may be the only major cable operator to participate in the auction, which will attract bidders for the 700-MHz radio spectrum that will soon be opened up when analog television signals cease in early 2009.

What will Cox plan on if it does win some radio bandwidth next month? Wireless service? Nah, the market is exceedingly crowded already, and it may get worse if Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) enters the picture. Fixed-wireless internet service? Cox already operates one of the largest high-speed internet consumer and business networks in the country, so that is an odd choice for increasing that market share.

With Cox competitors Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) electing to sit this auction out completely, it's unclear what Cox's strategy is -- and perhaps the company wants it that way. Cox's push towards mobility is under the radar at the moment, as the company looks like it is stockpiling wireless bandwidth for some future purpose -- but it's just saying "convergence purposes." Mightly slick there, Cox.

With Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) now saying that it will indeed participate in January's FCC bandwidth auctions, one has to wonder which other non-telecom companies may throw their own hats into the ring. Google, who makes a low-key presence known while it plans to dominate the world's information distribution, may try to trump the establishes, bloated telecom carriers and bring its services directly to customers. In a sense, though, there's another company that would probably love to do that as well -- Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

In fact, it's been said as much by Bob Cringely that Apple will be joining Google in bidding for some wireless airwaves come January. The two companies make a rather neat pair. After all, Google CEO Eric Schmidt does sit on the Apple board of directors.

While Apple is all about closed product ecosystems that work exceedingly well and are simple to use for all customers, Google operates in a completely open ecosystem that encourages direct customer interaction over a "walled garden" approach. In a sense, Apple and Google operate different business models. But, when it comes to taking their collective products direct to the customer, the two companies see eye-to-eye.

We already use Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) to search for information all over the web. Many of us use Google Earth to look at global satellite views, and Google Gmail for our email needs, and Google Docs & Spreadsheets for our online word processing and spreadsheets. Are we ready to use Google for our wireless voice and data telecommunication needs as well?

Google gets by on the backs of traditional telecom channels now, reaching hundreds of millions of customers over cable modems, DSL connections and T1 data lines from your local telecommunications cooperative. In a sense, the company bypasses everything it can to bring its services directly to each customer over a web browser. It's not the same game in the wireless business, as larger wireless companies keep iron-fisted control over what customers can access and who can market to them directly.

Google's intention to participate in the FCC's 700-megaHertz radio spectrum auctions in January tells the world that it wants to bypass the wireless carriers and provide services directly to consumers yet again. No revenue sharing, no unrealistic demands meant to pad the bottom lines of wireless carriers while underserving customers -- none of that.

Google has the cash and the fortitude to take on established telecom companies and give customers a much-needed alternative to tight controls over purchased wireless services. Wireless could be Google's second act that makes it one of the most powerful companies in the U.S. (by some estimations, it's already there).

Would you use Google as your wireless provider if given the choice? Will the company have too much control over information if it succeeds in becoming a player in wireless?

Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is lending its 800-pound fist to other tech companies this week as it tries to convince federal regulators and FCC officials that the soon to be vacated radio waves in the 700-MHz spectrum can be used by any wireless service without causing interference on adjacent radio frequencies.

U.S. television stations are required by 2009 to change their broadcasts to an all-digital format, switching from the 60-year-old analog television format, which will free up valuable radio waves. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) and others are salivating over that capacity, as they would like to get a chance to reach consumers directly with wireless services outside the reach of tightly controlled U.S. wireless operators like AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ).

Microsoft is challenging the FCC's recent admission that unregulated (and prototype) wireless internet devices operating in the 700-MHz radio band caused problems (like static, which is not possible with digital broadcasts) with radio services in frequency bands that were near the 700-MHz band.

Broadcasters near this existing 700-MHz band have expressed concern about interference from unregulated wireless devices that would occupy those frequencies in a few years. But according to many consumer advocates, allowing unregulated access to that band would create competition and free many consumers from the shackles of servitude to a handful of wireless telecom companies.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is probably smiling ear to ear about now. Draft rules released from the FCC this week hint at demands by technology companies will be served when the FCC auctions off 22 Megahertz of radio spectrum early next year to give telecom companies more room to offer wireless broadband connectivity services to customers. With Google itching to provide Internet connection services without bowing down to companies like AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T), Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q), it just might have that chance.

Google has been interested in providing broadband Internet services to U.S. customers for years, even going as far as anonuncing a free wireless Internet network in San Francisco last year. The company, along with other Internet content companies, continue to be frustrated by the dependence they have on traditional telephone and cable companies, which now provide almost all of the customer and business connectivity in the U.S. that allows all that high-speed web surfing, online shopping and PowerPoint email attachments.

If Google is allowed with others (Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY), for example) to compete with large, incumbent telecommunications providers, look for the company to take it to them. It has the cash, wherewithal and muscle to make a stab at some kind of national wireless Internet network that would bypass stingy telecom companies and allow Google to serve customers directly, free of net neutrality nuttiness. With the upcoming FCC auction expected to fetch up to $20 billion, I'm quite sure that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is wanting all the bidders he can muster next year.

If you've ever seen how the FCC runs a billion-dollar radio spectrum auction (for all those wireless airwaves), you'd be amazed. The smaller players are forced to leap out of the auctions due to lack of resources, or are forced to join with larger partners just to bid on slices of airwaves so that various wireless services can be offered. Is there a better way? Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has suggested a spectrum model that is being studied for possible implementation by the FCC. Sounds like a minor occurrence here. It isn't.

Google wants the FCC to allow smaller service providers to be able to bid on radio spectrum in real-time (not in sealed bids) to gain access to radio waves for a set period of time only. Right now, bids for airwaves are received by the FCC and then made public. Why not open the entire bidding process to all players, at the same time and in real-time, and make the entire event completely transparent and 100% live (no commercials, heh)?

Some companies "warehouse" spectrum by bidding on radio waves that they do not end up using -- but reselling them later. It's not only an investment vehicle of sorts, but a protection against competition for a time. It's completely bogus and the FCC has taken steps to curb its use (certain "use rules" and such). Google thinks that certain pieces of radio spectrum could be used for a few seconds or a few months so that phones, computers and other devices could "sniff" for the best and lowest-priced radio spectrum in which to operate for a certain period of time. This is precisely how Google's immensely successful AdWords programs works, and the success of that in the Internet advertising space is pretty well documented at this time.