Jan. 31, 2008 may well be a day that lives in infamy for changing the mobile WAN forever. That's the day that a 700MHz spectrum auction bidder metaphorically scratched his head or tugged his ear upon hearing the virtual request: "Do I hear $4.71 billion?"

With a nod, the anonymous bidder surpassed the FCC’s minimum price of $4.64 billion required to ensure that open access services will come to fruition in part of the nationwide commercial “C-Block” spectrum that the U.S. government is currently auctioning off. The bid assured that businesses and consumers alike will eventually gain network service options that support any competitor's device or application.

What do these open access rules, now assured of materializing, actually specify?

Attorney Kevin DiLallo spelled them out during the Mobile Explosion conference in Las Vegas late last month. DiLallo, who described today’s carrier approach of restricting network access for protecting network integrity as “hooey,” is a partner at Levine, Blaszak, Block & Boothby, a Washington, D.C., law firm. Here’s how DiLallo summed up the open access rules for C-block carrier license winners:

* Carriers can’t lock handsets to prevent their use on other networks. (But, of course, handsets and networks must be using the same underlying technology to work together.)

* Carriers can’t block Wi-Fi access, MP3 playback ringtones, or other services that compete with the carrier’s own offerings. And they can’t charge customers extra for using competing devices or applications.

* Carriers can’t have more stringent standards for third-party equipment and applications than their own.

* Carriers aren’t allowed to exclude devices or applications because of bandwidth demands, though they are allowed to address the capacity issue in their pricing plans.

Bear in mind that devices used with open services will become more expensive, as operators likely won’t subsidize them and lengthy service contracts will taper off. This tradeoff is appealing to many large enterprises that want to mix and match devices across networks running like technology and want access to any new features and applications that the device might offer.

But note, too, that enterprises and consumers - who often put device price and simplicity above all - will still be able to purchase existing device/minutes plan packages just as they always have for the foreseeable future. (Learn more about Wireless products from our Wireless Buyer's Guide)

Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in Silicon Valley.