Googling around the telecom-policy section of the Internets to catch up on what happened with the FCC's 700 MHz spectrum auction last week, I've discovered a few incontrovertible though diametrically-opposed truths: 1) the auction was a giant mess that sacrificed a public resource at the alter of big business and Google is a disappointment for not getting us out of it and 2) Google saved our hides on this one by proposing open-access rules that were triggered by Verizon's nearly $10 billion bid for the C block.

I'm in a laidback and generous mood, so I'm leaning towards the latter. It never seemed realistic that Google, an advertising company at the end of the day, was going to get into the business of running wireless networks. The big telecom companies and the FCC have long treated the radio spectrum like a company parking lot where it's okay to park your Benz across two spots just in case there's a chance that it might get scratched. The Google approach triggered by the auction, at the least, gives life to the idea that maybe, just maybe, the spectrum might be more useful to more people if we think of it more like a subway car we all might comfortably squeeze into. (Photo Thx thebigdurian)