While the rest of the consumer world outside of U.S. borders enjoys the latest and greatest cellular technology and service, U.S. consumers are forced to suffer the effects of outdated and oppressive carrier rules and regulations. Is there any hope that the U.S. cellular industry can ever catch up to the leading countries’ levels of quality and innovation?

The fact of the matter is that the U.S. is home to some of the most controlling cell phone carriers in the world. Walter Mossberg of The WallStreet Journal writes of cell phone carriers in the U.S, “Like the old bureaucracies of communism, they sit athwart the market, breaking the link between the producers of goods and services and the people who use them,” in a model he refers to as the “Soviet Ministry” model.

What does this look like? It looks like users choosing from a very limited pool of cell phones on a given network, some having to literally switch networks to use phones they really want. It looks like software that is virtually unmodifiable because that would take the users’ phones outside the realm of direct control of the provider.

Mossberg said the current PC industry is exemplary of the sort of choice Americans should have when it comes to choosing cell phones. Any consumer can buy a PC, from any provider, and customize it just how they like; they can load it with software they want and remove that which they don’t want, and most importantly, they can choose from the best of the best in the market today.

How many times do you have a conversation with someone who recently bought a new computer, and they said, “Well, I went with HP because I really wanted 2 gigs of RAM, and it came preloaded with Firefox, not Internet Explorer…and I just can’t see myself switching over to Internet Explorer,”? You haven’t, because the PC industry is competitive and works hard to deliver choice to consumers..there are no real constraints on choice.

The one exception in the PC technology analogy, and that is with Apple; if you want to use OS X, you must purchase an Apple PC, however if you want to use another OS on Apple’s machinery, that choice is readily available. As there are plenty of computer manufacturers, no one feels locked into buying an Apple because they really couldn’t find what they want elsewhere, as it is many times in the cell phone market.

For those of us in deeply entrenched in the technology world, it is perpetually frustrating to hear of amazing phones being released in China, Japan, and other countries that we could only dream of getting in possibly 2 or 3 years..if we’re lucky. While high-resolution camera phones flood markets elsewhere, we’re lucky to have more than a handful of phones with 2 megapixel cameras, and those are ridiculously expensive.

That is most assuredly not a choice made by the phone manufacturers; cell phone companies decide what cell phones they provide, and many times you just have to “make due” with what your provider will allow you to use.

Is that really what free market trade and economy is about? Whatever happened to capitalism that promoted breaking barriers and providing the best products at the best price to whoever wants them?

Consider the battle between CDMA and GSM networks: though GSM networks are technically newer and have more potential, the two leading providers of GSM don’t feel the need to distribute their technology to back-woods areas, leaving many users without good service. Verizon, who has the most extensive network, charges users exorbitant rates for the same technology other carriers provide, but because they have better service, they charge cut-throat rates.

Here’s what the sit-rep is on some large carriers:

Verizon – CDMA – provides the greatest network coverage; however, charges substantially higher rates than the competition and insists on carrying phones that bear a customized OS to Verizon’s own specifications.

AT&T – GSM – has competitively priced phones, moderate rates, and is the proud owner of the iPhone. Unfortunately, it recently had to change its motto from, “the fewest dropped calls,” because AT&T is actually notorious for having overloaded circuits and busy networks that have been known to drop calls.

T-Mobile – GSM – they have some of the least expensive phone plans. On the flip side, they carry very few phones that are generally late in the technology realm, and sell them for quite a bit of money. Also, though they share towers with other carriers for free roaming, but their reception is at times simply shoddy.

Sprint – CDMA – carrier of the original walkie-talkie function, they are home to expensive service plans and really quite deplorable phones.

What a utopia we would live in where cell phone carriers worked to provide the biggest choice in phones, jockeyed to provide the greatest coverage areas, and strove to provide the most competitive rates. As it stands, the U.S. consumer “makes due.” Is that really the American ideal?

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Entry was posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 at 7:31 pm under Apple.

Read more entries by Triston McIntyre.
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