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.

As Doug noted a few days ago, Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) will be releasing an updated iPhone some time in early 2008 that will work on AT&T, Inc. (NYSE: T)'s 3G wireless data network. After AT&T's CEO Randall Stephenson said this last week, it's been confirmed by Apple on several occasions. But, as an aspiring iPhone customer who may have been thinking about buying one this holiday season, will you be more apt to plunk down that $400 knowing that a new version will be out in just a few months (most likely)?

This story is a recurring one for different electronics and gadgets every six months. There is always an upgrade, a better product or a next new thing -- it's what keeps customer buying more and more stuff and it's also what keeps consumer electronics manufacturers plan for a steady income stream. Smacking Apple's holiday sales by sitting on a public stage (of sorts) and stating that, yes, AT&T will have a new iPhone in early 2008, might have just been a backhand against Apple's head.

The relationship between Apple and AT&T has been an odd one form the very start, no matter how professional it looked in January of this year when both companies announced the iPhone, and their exclusive partnership in the U.S. While Apple gets a cut of every iPhone user's bill, AT&T gets all these new customers and books all that revenue. Sounds like a win-win situation. That is, except for the customer. Then again, much business is not longer about the customers, it's about the company's bottom line.

Ed Whitacre, the current AT&T (NYSE: T) CEO, has been running one or more of the Bells for a long time. He ran SBC since 1990 when it mergered with AT&T. In June, he hits retirement age. To no one's surprise, his No.2, Randall Stephenson, will move up to Chairman & CEO. Stephenson was chief operating officer at SBC before the merger. He was both controller and CFO before he took over operations.

Whitacre goes out on top. He engineered the merger between SBC and AT&T, and then took over BellSouth again. He has come close to re-assembling the original AT&T. He leaves with a $158.5 million retirement package.

Over the last two years, AT&T's share price is up almost 70%. The merger with BellSouth has gone well. AT&T's first-quarter 2007 reported net income was $2.8 billion, up from $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2006, and reported earnings per diluted share were $0.45, versus $0.37 in the year-earlier quarter. The company's wireless operations, renamed AT&T Wireless, did particularly well.

One question will dog Whitacre's legacy. It is whether he moved quickly enough into fiber-based high speed internet to take TV and broadband customers away from cable companies. Cable has been converting large numbers of telecom voice customers to VoIP.

But, that is Stephenson's problem now.

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.