The 700MHz clock began ticking Friday after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it would officially commence the auction of the spectrum on January 16, 2008.

    "Auction 73, "as it's dubbed by the FCC, will sell off 1,099 licenses in the 698 to 806 MHz band, which includes spectrum currently used by analog TV. United States broadcasters are scheduled to hand over their analog spectrum and cut everything to digital on Feb. 19, 2009.

    In addition to raising billions for the U.S. government, the auction is also expected to usher in a range of new wireless broadband services.

    Aside from assigning a start date, the FCC is also seeking comment on auction procedures, minimum opening bids, bid withdrawal rules, and pre-defined bid amounts, as well as the auction's overall design, which includes pre-determined packages of specified licenses. The FCC is also preparing the auction to consist of sequential bidding rounds, but those details will not be released until at least one week before the start of the auction.

    Under the proposal (Word document) issued Aug. 17, the FCC will allow for anonymous bidding, to "reduce the potential for anti-competitive bidding behavior, including bidding activity that aims to prevent the entry of new competitors."

    That the auction will begin in mid-January comes as little surprise, as the FCC was already on the hook to commence bidding by January 28.

    The FCC announced rules for the auction in late July, approving a range of "open access" stipulations -- including those for devices and the applications themselves -- that were sought by agency chairman Kevin Martin. Google (Nasdaq: GOOG - message board) is among the companies that have already pledged to bid on the spectrum, but time will tell whether the Web search giant actually follows through. (See FCC Straddles Open Access Issue and Google Pledges $4.6B for Spectrum.)