According to a speculative BusinessWeek article, the iPhone maker is mulling whether or not it should participate in the upcoming 700 MHz auction next January. The publication claims that two sources have verified Apple's interest in the auction, but concludes that the company seems to be veering toward not participating because the company is not interested in running a massive-scale network. The report claims money would not be an issue since the minimum bid for the open access C Block of spectrum is $4.6 billion and Apple has nearly $14 billion in cash on hand.
"Apple is the most anti-carrier company there is," a former Apple executive told BusinessWeek. "They're probably already frustrated with AT&T. If they put a few billion behind this, they could build a kick-a** network."
Would Apple really try to outbid Google and incumbent carriers for the "open access" spectrum block? Or is this just more hype around the "last" big auction "of the century," as some have dubbed the 700 MHz auction?
For more on Apple's plans:
- read this report from BusinessWeek
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