For the past week or so big companies with big ideas have been bidding for control of a huge swath of the public's airwaves. In 2009 when TV goes digital for good all the wavelengths that currently carry broadcast TV are going to be vacated. This wireless spectrum is prime realestate because it can send data over long distances and penetrate mountains. It's like the superman of the wireless world. This spectrum could bring the internet to communities across the US who have been left behind by Verizon, AT&T, and Comcast. Imagine a freely flowing, open internet broadcast across America as a public service.

This week as an important milestone in begining to make that dream a reality. Bidding in the ongoing FCC auction of the "700 MHz" spectrum has reached the threshold point so that a portion of these valuable public airwaves will be open to all devices and all applications. Critics of open access suggested that protecting the public airwaves and the public interest in this way would hurt the value and cheat the public. The fact that the bidding is still going strong is proof that these detractors were wrong.

"We have at least one company willing to bet billions on an open network," said Ben Scott, policy director at Free Press. "This demonstrates that the marketplace will support open networks in the future just as easily as it supported closed networks in the past. Finally, the American public will enjoy the benefits of more competition.

"This is just the beginning. This auction signals that the Internet marketplace -- and the public polices that shape it -- should now move decisively toward universal openness. If open devices and applications are good for consumers in the networks built on 700 MHz spectrum, why not for all mobile networks? These conditions should be applied across the board so that consumers can benefit immediately from more choice and competition."

We are still a long way off from a truly open internet, but this is a hopeful sign.