Google muscling up to buy O2 and Vodafone’s old UK airwaves?

The Guardian newspaper claimed on Friday that UK telecoms regulator Ofcom is planning to release for sale (in 2009, so get saving if you’re interested) the airwaves used by O2 and Vodafone’s old 2G networks. And among those lining up to buy a slice of the 900Mhz spectrum is said to be none other than Google, which is currently thought to be brewing up its own ‘Gphone’.

This rumour follows on from recent stories out of the US claiming that Google is interested in a similar spectrum purchase there too. Hey, if the Big G has the clout to lay its own trans-Pacific undersea fibre optics, snapping up a few airwaves should be no problem. The idea of a Google Phone reliant on the whims of existing operators is one thing — but a Google Phone running wild on its own network is quite another.

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