Filed under: Products and services, Google (GOOG), AT and T (T), Economic data

When the Federal Communications Commission releases the results from its $19 billion auction of new wireless spectrum, all eyes will looking for one name: Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG).

The search giant is eager to expand into the mobile world. Odds are that the company won’t outbid Verizon Wireless or AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) for the “C” block of new spectrum that attracted a $4.74 billion bid. BusinessWeek has reported that Google probably withdrew from the bidding. But as The New York Times notes, Google scored a pretty significant victory already.

“While Google was not expected to post a winning bid, it has already achieved an important victory by influencing the auction rules,” the paper said. “The commission forced the major telephone companies to open their wireless networks to a broader array of telephone equipment and Internet applications.”

In other words, people can download whatever application they want to their mobile phones, which is exactly what Google wants to happen. Fortune recently noted that open standards are a central feature of Google’s Android mobile platform. Speculation abounds about Google’s interest in the mobile area, though the much anticipated Gphone has yet to materialize.

quot;We see Android as an important part of our strategy of furthering Google’s goal of providing access to information to users wherever they are,” Google Director of Mobile Platforms Andy Rubin recently wrote on the official company blog. “We recognize that many among the multitude of mobile users around the world do not and may never have an Android-based phone. Our goals must be independent of device or even platform.”

Shares of Google, like many other stocks, have gotten hammered this year because of concerns about a slowing economy. For Google to rebound from its 36% decline, the company will need to convince investors that great things are on the horizon. Google’s mobile strategy may help push the stock back to the levels many investors believe it is worth.

Freelance writer Jonathan Berr edits the blog Ketchup and Eggs

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 at 9:08 am and is filed under Stocks News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.