Despite what you may read, Google and other internet companies didn’t really get everything they wanted from the US spectrum auction that just ended - in fact, in many ways the status quo remains exactly what it was.

The auction “winners” were announced today (that word is in inverted commas because only time will tell whether they got a good deal or overpaid.) Google shareholders were at least able to breathe a sigh of relief that it was Verizon Wireless, not the search company, that had paid $4.74bn for the all-important C Block of spectrum. That is the block that the FCC, after cajoling by Google, subjected to “open access” provisions. Read more