US | Google FCC Ruling to Test Google Power Techies’ lobbying tactics on wireless auction vex old guard By Heather McPherson Posted Jul 30, 2007 9:53 AM CDT Copied Two women walk past a Google sign at the Google campus in Mountain View, Calif., Tuesday, July 17, 2007. Google Inc. is expected to release quarterly earnings on Thursday, July 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) (Associated Press) The FCC will rule tomorrow on whether an upcoming airwaves auction will require its winner to build an open-access network, and the verdict will test Google’s lobbying prowess, the Washington Post reports. Google has been pushing the open network aggressively, to the chagrin of AT&T and Verizon, mustering support from public interest groups and consumer advocates. In its first major foray into the regulatory wars, Google offered to spend at least $4.6 billion at the auction for the airwaves to build the open network, if the FCC rules in its favor. The company spent only 3% of the lobbying dollars that AT&T dropped in 2006, but its unconventional strategy, deploying bloggers, engineers and even game theorists, seems to have scored with the FCC chairman. Read These Next New Fox star, 23, misses first day after car troubles. Iran's supreme leader makes first public comments since ceasefire. Man accused of killing his daughters might be dead. Her blood isn't compatible with anyone else's. Report an error