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Google has lately confirmed that it would bid in the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) auction of valuable wireless spectrum that will be used to bring the Web and other services to cell phones and other wireless devices.

Google has pushed hard for part of the spectrum, to be sold in January's auction, to be freed up so consumers can use it with any device they wish and download any application they want. As a result, the FCC has set aside a portion known as block C - which has a reserve price of USD 4.6bn - for such "open access" use.

The FCC expects to rise more than USD 10 billion for the U.S. Treasury in the auction. The spectrum is being made available with the conversion of television channels to digital from analog.

"We believe it's important to put our money where our principles are," said, Eric Schmidt, Google chief executive.

Mobile carriers traditionally had restricted the kinds of phones and features subscribers could use. For Google, such policies kept its mobile services from reaching the widest audience, putting a major damper on its ambitions of becoming a major player in the potentially lucrative mobile market.

If it wins, Google could choose to operate the network itself, find a partner or license the spectrum to others. Because of the additional billions of dollars it will cost to build out a network from scratch, and the complexity, some analysts believe that Google would at least want to pair up with a company more experienced in the wireless market.

This week one of Google's rivals in the auction, Verizon Wireless - in which Vodafone is a partner - executed a strategic U-turn by announcing that its network would be opened up to all devices from next year. It had been one of the more vociferous opponents of Google's drive for more openness in the mobile industry.

Google already runs small-scale wireless internet-access networks in California but winning new spectrum would allow it to start a national network. Google chief Eric Schmidt said: "Consumers deserve more competition ... the real winners of this auction are American consumers."