My friends have heard me hype about the 700MHz wireless spectrum auctions in the U.S. for months, I'm surprised I haven't mentioned it previously here. I wish the Canadian 700MHz auction had been regulated the same way.

As I understand it, the FCC has dictated that the 700MHz spectrum would require a new level of openness from providers, as long as the minimum bids were met. Google put in bids early, with the obvious intent to make sure the open proposition went through. It sparked the rumours of a Google-Phone, but was really about Google Android (their SDK for phone software).

The open requirements are a big deal, they should push the entire cellular industry away from locking consumers and restricting the feature-set of phones. There's so much potential for combined Cellular & Wi-Fi devices that is barely touched upon with current phones, but the technology thus far has been held back by the phone companies, where consumer-milking restrictions have been tighter than any other industry I can think of.

Hopefully, the CRTC will come to their senses and follow suit, these are much better incentives for competition than their plans for the 700MHz spectrum, which is essentially just pushing for bids from new providers. Currently the rates to services ratio for cel plans in Canada are hideously bad and most phones have features locked out.