BusinessWeek ran a story yesterday claiming that Apple chief executive Steve Jobs is looking into the January 16 spectrum auction, to be held by the Federal Communications Commission, but that he likely won’t participate.
The FCC is auctioning off the 700-MHz band, which his being vacated by TV broadcasters that are moving to digital. The auction’s minimum bid is $4.6bn, while Apple has almost $14bn in cash reserves.
A former Apple executive told BusinessWeek that it would make sense for the company to acquire the airwaves, given the level of investment the company has already made in the handset market with its iPhone.
Our View
It seems unlikely that Apple would get into the broadband game by buying spectrum. Historically, its focus has been on developing devices and software, and to become a services company seems like too much of a stretch. And there isn’t an obvious reason why Apple needs to buy its own airwaves at this point. More likely, Apple would partner with a broadband network provider.
