While bidding is anonymous, analysts speculate that Google and Verizon Wireless are the likely bidders on that swath, which is about one-third of the total spectrum currently being auctioned.
The FCC is selling off the spectrum that's being freed as part of the switch to digital television in February 2009. The airwaves are considered especially valuable because the frequencies travel long distances and can easily pass through walls.
Google had lobbied hard to make open-access conditions part of the spectrum, which the major telecom companies have fought, though AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless have recently relented on open access.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said at a press conference Thursday that the open access rule will help foster innovation in handsets and applications. The spectrum, he added, could make high-speed wireless Internet service "more ubiquitous" and more competitive with cable and DSL.
