Congress pondering tighter controls over wireless industry
By John Lister
A Congressional committee has begun hearings into whether the wireless industry needs tighter regulation. It follows a request by the committee’s chairman for the Federal Communications Commission to investigate exclusive handset-carrier deals such as Apple’s partnership with AT&T for the iPhone.
Former presidential candidate John Kerry was joined in writing the letter by three other senators and said he was writing after receiving a petition from an organization representing rural cellphone network providers.
The letter did not make any specific judgments on the issue, but raised several points for the FCC to consider. It suggested that people in remote areas not covered by a particular network might be unfairly prevented from choosing a tied handset. It also suggested that smaller network carriers might be unfairly limited in competing with national firms because they can’t sign exclusive deals with handset manufacturers.
Among the other points Kerry and company want investigated is whether exclusive carrier details restrict the user’s ability to use a handset to its full potential, for example in tethering it to provide Internet access to a laptop. (Clearly it does: the real question is whether it’s fair for firms to impose such restrictions.) The group also wants the FCC to consider whether exclusivity deals help or hinder innovation in the smartphone industry.
The wireless industry is certainly getting plenty of attention from politicians this week. On Tuesday phone company representatives appeared before an antitrust subcommittee (overseen by the Judiciary committee) to defends themselves against accusations of colluding over the cost of sending text messages.
The questions followed consumer group complaints that all four major firms have put charges up to 20 cents per message over the past few years despite the costs of providing such services being unchanged. The phone companies noted that the vast majority of customers use pre-paid ‘bundles’ which work out at around a couple of cents a message.
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Stumble It!
June 18th, 2009
How to go from working to disaster in one step.
You just have to wonder just how many disasters you to have until it sinks in these people are just human beings who happen to have at least a million dollars and a law degree. They have no special skills but lying semi-sincerely and grabbing as much influence and control as you let them have.