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Sound off: What do you think about the FCC's inquiry into wireless?
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Last week, the FCC voted to begin inquiries into innovation in the wireless industry, the state of competition in the "wireless ecosystem," and whether consumers have enough information about their mobile plans and bills. The five-member commission unanimously approved all three inquiries, but the decision to launch the probes produced a wide array of reactions. FierceWireless contacted a range of players--including carriers and public interest groups--to gauge their responses to the FCC's votes, and to determine how they plan to respond.
Add your voice to the conversation. Click here to comment on this issue.
What do you think of the FCC's inquiries? Did the commission take the right approach? And how will you work with the FCC?
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"With the notice of inquiry, the FCC--under Chairman Genachowski's leadership--is asking the right questions to maximize innovation across the wireless ecosystem. Skype is confident that the commission can improve on the existing levels of competition in wireless by enabling a new source of competition and innovation--from software companies--to drive demand for more affordable wireless broadband to more Americans. We welcome this inquiry and look forward to working with the commission to develop the right policies to maximize innovation and choice." --Christopher Libertelli, Skype's senior director of government and regulatory affairs
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Sprint Nextel will, of course, cooperate with the FCC's inquiry. We are hopeful that, as part of this inquiry, the commission will examine the impact vertically integrated telecommunications companies have on the wireless industry, particularly with regards to special-access pricing." --Vonya McCann, Sprint Nextel's vice president of government affairs
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The commission took exactly the right path when it voted to look at all aspects of competition in the wireless industry. For too long, the appearance of competition among a few carriers has masked underlying anti-competitive industry practices ranging from consumer contracts to roaming agreements. We also hope that as part of the commission's ambitious agenda to examine the wireless market and to encourage innovation that it will act soon on our petition to declare that wireless carriers cannot block text messages or decline to provide short codes based on the content of the message or short code." --Gigi Sohn, Public Knowledge's president and co-founder
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We praise the FCC's dedication to advancing innovation in our industry. We especially commend the chairman for understanding that spectrum availability is crucial to the success of our industry. We look forward to working with the commission to provide guidance on policy reform that will best support our industry's continued innovation." --Kathleen Ham, T-Mobile USA's vice present of federal regulatory affairs
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Cellular South welcomes the FCC's interest in examining competition--or lack thereof--in the wireless service industry, and we intend to participate fully in the commission's proceedings. The largest carriers and their surrogates tirelessly claim that our industry is competitive and innovative, yet these are the very carriers that try to prevent competition and stifle innovation. The wireless industry is not truly competitive when the largest two carriers are able to restrict access to wireless devices, refuse reasonable data roaming agreements, force artificially high prices for special access services, and continue to warehouse spectrum, often by handing off licenses to each other in order to gain regulatory approval for acquisitions." --Eric Graham, Cellular South vice president of government relations
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The commission's actions to further examine competition and innovation in the wireless industry are overdue. Consumers face a mobile marketplace that lacks competition and choice. We are especially encouraged that the FCC is looking into a broader range of wireless competition issues such as spectrum allocation, roaming agreements, special access and other factors that we believe highlight anti-consumer and anti-competitive practice in the wireless industry. These inquires will help the FCC to fully understand the problems of the wireless industry and give them ammunition to guide policymaking that safeguards the public interest." --Ben Scott, policy director for Free Press
Click here for more responses from Verizon Wireless, Leap Wireless, CTIA and more.
More stories about Mccann Inquiries FCC Ecosystem Wireless Broadband Telecommunications Companies Sprint Skype
Comments
Posted by Anonymous | August 31, 2009 - 3:09pm
Anything the government can do to eliminate the stranglehold these cell companies have over Americans, the better. They have LONG recouped their investments and hold us hostage now. AT&T has long been a master of such ripping off, going back to the scam of "long distance". Good for the government. Finally the taxes I pay will do me some good.
Posted by Anonymous | September 1, 2009 - 4:11pm
Ditto this - !! -
"Anything the government can do to eliminate the stranglehold these cell companies have over Americans, the better. They have LONG recouped their investments and hold us hostage now. AT&T has long been a master of such ripping off, going back to the scam of "long distance". Good for the government. Finally the taxes I pay will do me some good."
Posted by Ben Byrne | September 1, 2009 - 5:11pm
I'm excited to see the FCC tackling these issues head-on, and hope inquiries eventually lead to rulemaking.
That said, I think the FCC should place its emphasis on increasing competition (would have been nice to handle the most recent auction differently, for example) to keep wireless providers honest, rather than get mired in creating all sorts of specific regulations regarding billing, transparency and the like.
Legitimate and intense competition is the best regulation and needs to be fostered. But in lieu of that, I'll take at least a bit more direct FCC involvement over what we have now.
Posted by Anonymous | September 1, 2009 - 5:31pm
I am very supportive of the FCC's decision. The bullying of the consumer by collusion of a few large phone companies has to be investigated and if present, stopped. Other countries do not have to deal with these rules that limit innovation, why should we in the United States?
Posted by WilliamC | September 1, 2009 - 6:20pm
It's good to hear that AT&T is loosening its grip on the Iphone. It is part of the exclusivity problem. These type of agreements should be shorter and once they are over - any carrier should be able to offer the device if it meets the phones specifications. While this should alleviate the problem the size of the top four carriers is eye popping. The smaller carriers have seen how the FCC has blessed these behemoths. Giving them the upper hand. As you can see Sprint had to purchase Virgin Mobile to stay afloat - In my opinion. They may have to make an acquisition or two more - if AT&T extends its exclusivity agreement with Apple. I do think that these agreements have caused an explosion of innovation but it has also hampered the smaller carriers and brought wealth and market share and power to Verizon and AT&T. We cannot let these two have the final say when it comes to telecommunications in the United States. These two forget that they are a part of a bigger picture. They too have a good product but the way they market their services - is like they know how to give a good product to the consumers and the other telephone or cellular companies do not. The FCC allowed them to get as big as they are today - giving them the advantage plus deep pockets. How do the little guys get to offer free phones, chargers, and accessories??? You have to have the balance sheets of AT&T and Verizon to do that....How about buy 1 phone get 4 free??? Can CellularSouth do that??? I doubt it!!!AS YOU CAN SEE THERE IS BLAME TO GO AROUND...
HOW DO YOU FIX THE PROBLEM WHEN THE CAP ON CABLE WAS LIFTED...IT GIVES VERIZON AND AT&T THE MESSAGE THAT THEY CAN GET AS BIG AS THEY WANT TO BE AND STIFLe COMPETITION. NOTHING GOOD HAS COME FROM THAT CABLE RULING....IF YOU THINK ITS GOING TO GET BETTER GUYS...FORGET IT!!! YOU JUST GOT YOUR ANSWER.....IT'S CALLED BUSINESS AS USUAL...WITH THIS OKIDOKE CORRAL!!!
Posted by Anonymous | September 2, 2009 - 10:59am
Hey, what happened to Verizon's Statement about "educating the FCC", and the first comment that noted their arrogance?
Posted by Mike Dano | September 2, 2009 - 11:25am
Extra comments can be found on the second page of this feature, here: http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sound-what-do-you-think-about-fccs-inquiry-wireless-page-2/2009-08-31 --Mike Dano, managing editor.
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