Updated: Google’s (NSDQ: GOOG) official statement is out. Also, on Google’s official blog, Chris Sacca outlines the process from Dec 3rd onwards.

So it is finalized: Google will announce on Friday that it will apply to bid for wireless spectrum in a January Federal Communications Commission auction reports the Wall Street Journal, citing “people familiar with the matter”...the deadline to announce an intent to bid is December 3rd. Google has been hinting it would bid for a while, but some have suggested it is merely a bargaining chip in its negotiations with carriers, and that Verizon’s (NYSE: VZ) recent announcement that it would open part of its network would take away some of the internet giant’s incentive to bid for the spectrum. Google is expected to bid on the “C” block. Even if Google does bid, some pundits have claimed that it is likely to bid low—that it would bid to justify the pressure it put on the FCC but not to win spectrum. 

• FCC Approves ‘Open Access’ Wireless Rules For Spectrum Auction; Will Not Require Wholesale Access