Somehow Making the Phrase "700 MHz Spectrum Auction" Sexy. Almost.

There has been so much rhetoric spewed on the 700 MHz auction issue the last couple of weeks that we very well could have our next Net Neutrally-sized policy fight on our hands.

I mean, who thought around Independence Day that they would be seeing this ad a few weeks later

The wireless association ad was running at the National Journal Tech Daily site today and links to this page.

Dang. How soon until we have a Ask the Ninja video about open spectrum? Actually, there already have been videos created on the issue (sans Ninjas). See Public Knowledge. There has also been two congressional hearings in two weeks. Oh, yeah, and a really big preemptive bid that didn't make some people happy.

Confused about how all this came to be so fast and what the hubbub is all about? That's okay. There are many in this industry and watching that are still trying to figure out the ins and outs of Net Neutrality. Just thank Cynthia Brumfield for her brief 700 MHz battleground explanation today at IP Democracy:

Once in a while a telecom policy fight erupts that you just know promises to deliver the wonk’s idea of fireworks. The latest such power struggle is over the upcoming auction of 700 MHz spectrum, a major piece of wireless real estate that will be made vacant by the impending transition to digital TV and that could serve as the conduit for a third broadband pipe into the home.

Here’s the core fight so far, in a nutshell: FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has floated draft rules for how this auction will be conducted and in so doing has reserved some spectrum for “open access,” which will allow different kinds of handsets to work with the spectrum. Google and some public interest groups say the “open” part of the proposal doesn’t go far enough. They’d like to see the spectrum opened up to all competing content and application services, and they’d like to see the winning bidders offer some spectrum for wholesale buyers, among other things. Google is willing to go so far as to put up $4.6 billion of its money to buy spectrum if the FCC would just agree to more “open” ground rules.

Need more? No worries. Om Malik was prescient enough back in March to provide a cheat sheet for the coming fight. He introduced it....

The spectrum, currently owned by broadcasters, has been used for analog television. But it is set to be turned over to the government in 2009. Due to its broadcast-attractive physics (like its ability to penetrate walls), this spectrum is desirable for both broadband communications in general and public-safety uses in particular.

The FCC has described the 700 MHz as beachfront property, and has talked up the broadband capabilities of this spectrum swath. About 60 MHz of the former UHF (TV) spectrum is going to be reclaimed by the U.S. government and will be reallocated for public safety and commercial broadband networks. The TV channels using this spectrum are going to go dark on Feb. 19, 2009, if all continues as planned.

This is going to be an area of active debate for months to come, and we have prepared a little cheat sheet for you to better understand the past, the present and the future of 700 MHz.

Go here for it and get ready for some good geek fights.