Google's reported negotiations with Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel to market its own cell phone and mobile apps is being met in part by reactions of disbelief.

That’s because the search king has spent the last few months at odds with Verizon Wireless in a battle over regulatory rules. The outcome would affect an upcoming spectrum auction in which Google is expected to bid for a slice to create an open network.

“This is not what Frontline envisioned as an open network,” said a source close to Frontline Wireless, a consortium that plans to bid for spectrum in the upcoming auction and build an open network, commenting on a report.

An open network, in which the spectrum owner becomes a wholesaler and allows independent developers to offer services, is anathema to most mobile incumbents, and it has been aggressively opposed by Verizon.

The deal, according to The Wall Street Journal, would have Google marketing its own phone and licensing its own operating system and applications on Verizon and Sprint wireless networks. The move would be similar to the arrangement Apple negotiated for its iPhone on AT&T’s network.

There is a bright spot. Google appears to be open in one area: third-party apps. The search king’s phone is expected to be open so developers can create third-party applications and gain easier access to the mobile consumer market.

Wall Street reacted favorable to the Google report. Shares of the search giant gained $12.23, or 1.76 percent, to $707 in closing trading, breaking through the $700 mark on Wednesday for the first time.

Vanu Bose, CEO of Vanu, a startup that develops software base stations for cellular networks, believes Google’s move, while it does not meet all of its long-term goals of openness, will be good for both sides.

“I think we will see a deal between Google and the carriers because that would give Google the open conditions for its apps it wants, and for the carrier it takes a deep-pockets bidder off the table,” said Mr. Bose, who is affiliated with Frontline.

Another analyst, who requested anonymity, said that Google has two goals. The search king, the analyst said, has a short-term goal to make concessions to the carriers and gets its products into the market, and it has a long-term goal to pursue spectrum and invest in an open network.

“I think Google’s downstream ambitions are still very much in play, but they don’t want to wait three years to bring products to market,” the analyst said.