FCC to vote on wireless industry competition inquiry; Watch out Verizon and AT&T
Summary: The Federal Communication Commission will vote Aug. 27 on a broad inquiry into wireless industry competition.
The Federal Communication Commission will vote Aug. 27 on a broad inquiry into wireless industry competition. The FCC move is likely to put AT&T and Verizon under the regulatory microscope.
In a notice (Techmeme), the FCC said it will hold an open meeting next week to "consider a Notice of Inquiry to seek to understand better the factors that encourage innovation and investment in wireless and to identify concrete steps the Commission can take to support and encourage further innovation and investment in this area."
Clearly the FCC is more proactive than in recent years. The FCC has been looking into wireless industry practices including number portability, exclusive handset deals and even the Google Voice app flap with Apple and AT&T.
In addition, the FCC is looking for "opportunities to protect and empower American consumers by ensuring sufficient access to relevant information about communications services." Given Verizon and AT&T are the two largest wireless players in the U.S. you can rest assured they'll take most of the heat.
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Talkback
How does the current setup stiffle innovation?
The current setup prevents consumers from ....
2. Using it with the best service that fits their needs.
3. Using their device/service as THEY see fit
If the consumer is not free to chose the best then innovators are out in the cold. The ONLY innovation being supported is "new ways to fleece the customer"!
Right now consumer's hands are tied by the "service" providers. The FCC exists to serve the PUBLIC interest, not the business interest.
Why bother.....
Agreed
Also, I don't understand why most phones that are released worldwide are never released in the US by any of the major carriers. There are TONS of great phones out there that the general public will never even hear about.
The Public Does Not Understand the Industry
Bravo, someone gets it
That's already changing
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/wireless/phones/2009-04-26-apple-verizon-iphone_N.htm
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Verizon-Executives-Coy-About-iPhone-Agreements-During-Financial-Call-519333/
Or have you chosen to ignore it?
Travel abroad much?
Yes, no, all of the above, none of the above
That said, their job is to make sure big companies do not abuse their position, and stifle innovation. Any type of innovation.
Now, IMO that cell carriers focus on innovating ways to lock the customer in. They honestly don't care how well their services match your needs as long as those "services" don't push you away. Having exclusive contracts limiting where you can use your handset is a blatantly abusive way of keeping the customers with a given service provider.
Correct, but contracts only work once
Yes I do and the US does quite well
In fact, the US will probably have one of the first large scale LTE deployments in the world--before Europe--although I expect them to be close.
While you guys are talking about non-issues, the carriers are busy upgrading to fiber backhaul and an all-IP core.
Asia is probably the leader when it comes to adopting new technology but the US and Europe are not much different--probably because we both have intrusive govt bureaucracy.
Incompatible nich technologies due to gov't inaction!
The future?
That's exactly what they do TODAY!
How is Asia Ahead of Us?
then how come Asia uses so many different standards?
No one size solution imposed by govt on them.
So are you saying the US govt should have forced everyone to use CDMA since an American company, Qualcomm gets all the royalties? That doesnt sound fair to me.
Keen observation that most businesses want the most return for the least effort...most people operate the same way. Perhaps a govt officer should be appointed to make sure you are working up to your potential.
Intrusive burearcracy?
which bureaucrat tells US carriers to meter minutes twice - incoming and outgoing calls
which bureaucrat tells AT&T to charge $ 1 to 4 a minute when we roam overseas when local carriers allow you to call back for pennies
which bureaucrat told most of the carriers to sue Vonage because they supposedly had precedent VoIp patents - but years later they still do not themselves offer or mess with other with VoIp apps?
I am a free market guy but we have a bastardized free market here in the US. The bureaucrats need to step in and clean it up some
correct, we have a mixed economy not a free market
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04132009/news/regionalnews/phone_taxes_are_cell_hell_164180.htm
Likewise there are rules telling carriers what they can charge for service, where they can provide service.
But here's a good one, the govt collects a tax and then gives some of the proceeds to some of the carriers.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090615-712120.html
Still think the govt is on your side and will clean up the mess?
At a cost
The cellular phone makers and service marketers have colluded to restrain trade so that the consumer is "locked" to specific carrier.
At a minimum, product labeling MUST indicate whether or not the device is "locked" by a marketing ploy. We expect that food packaging is labeled with the content weight or volume. The same should be true of cell phones.
The current sales process does not inform the consumer fully regarding what they are buying. They purposely confuse the consumer with a low-ball price on the phone because it is "locked" to only use their monthly service.
One might make an argument that this is false advertising.
Outlet is standard...depending on your country
But I agree, contracts are too confusing and those "unlimited plans" werent really unlimited. Certainly a lawsuit is justified in these cases.
But I find it hard to believe that people signing a 2 yr contract for service dont know what they are getting. And if you dont want a contract, go pre-paid, there are plenty of offerings.
RE: FCC to vote on wireless industry competition inquiry; Watch out Verizon and AT&T
Problem is, Vz, AT&T, Sprint & TMobile all have their own networks and ways of doing things. To use their network you need their device.
Back in the 60's, USOC was implemtend to ensure that everyone could plug in whatever phone they wanted (the modular jack we now call it). So why can't we have a similar thing in the world of wireless? Why not force the phone manufactuers and wireless carriers to stay with one open standard, so that you could buy service from one carrier and a phone at walmart. SIM cards are the way to do this along with a nationally adopted mobile standard. We have no nationally adpoted standard because no one has forced the issue. The only thing the FCC is doing right now is acting like that annoying little brother or sister who asks you every 10 minutes if they can use your skateboard... They need to act like the big parent who says "enough of this malarkey, we need standards and here's what we're telling you to do..."