While it was billed as the most important of any spectrum sales so far, the US auction of airwaves seems to have failed in the eyes of many. On the surface, a record take for the US government and a more accessible open airwaves system will look like something of a success but the picture is very different underneath.

Google has been accused of being a little under hand, joining the bidding purely to push the price to a level where new regulations kicked in which allow people to use any device or application on the new spectrum. While Verizon won the main auction with a bid of $4.74 billion there are many who believe that Google will be the main winner with more and more Google supported applications now coming under the new more open regulations.

What seems to have upset many is the fact that Google have been bragging about their part in the auction and the fact their main aim was to push the price to a level where the new regulations kicked in. So what about the rest of the auction?

While the auction overall raised $500 million more than recent forecasts, there was great disappointment in the sale of so called D Block – the planned public / private partnership to ensure a quality wireless network in which the emergency services could communicate in the event of a major catastrophe or terrorist attack. This area of the auction failed to attract any meaningful bids and this new system will not be getting off the ground in the short term.

As with any auction of airwaves and spectrum there always seems to be some disappointment after the event but the facts remain that this was vital to the progression of the US wireless network system and will bring great rewards in the future.