 Wireless in the EnterpriseNetwork World's Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter, 06/18/07Will 700MHz auctions unleash cellular freedoms?By Joanie WexlerNo promises, but the upcoming U.S. 700MHz spectrum auction might unleash some new freedoms for U.S. cellular customers. The service description for the 700MHz spectrum, about to be vacated by analog television, is to be completed within the next month. Auctions are to begin no later than January 2008 with services to follow. There’s a chance that the FCC, which controls the auctions, might license the spectrum with the condition that bidding would-be operators will sell at least some unlocked phones. Such phones allow users to load their own application software on them.
U.S. mobile network operators currently lock their phones, against use on other providers’ networks and against the use of third-party application software and features unapproved by the carriers. Mobile carriers often turn off features that handset manufacturers build into their devices that compete for cellular airtime minutes. VoIP company Skype—with a vested interest in getting its renowned IP telephony software client onto mobile phones—feels the FCC should do something about these restraints, which the company contends stifle handset innovation and competition. In a petition filed with the FCC early this year, Skype drew a mobile analogy to the 1968 Carterfone decision, which allowed third-party devices to connect to the then-monopolistic AT&T network. The liberating decision led to the birth of modems, answering machines, fax machines, and many other telephony devices. Christopher Libertelli, senior director of government and regulatory affairs, says, “Keep an eye on the 700MHz auctions. Carterfone could come up in the proceedings.” Dave Passmore, research director at the Burton Group in Sterling, Va., acknowledges that it “would be more fair” to carriers if the government put operational terms on spectrum at the time that licensing occurs, rather than going back and changing the rules for current licensees. For their part, the mobile carriers, as represented in rebuttal comments to Skype’s petition by the CTIA wireless association, feel plenty of wireless competition exists already and that additional rules would require costly government enforcement. The CTIA’s counter petition also indicates that the unmonitored use of third-party software could impede the carrier’s ability to control user service quality.
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| Contact the author: Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in California's Silicon Valley who has spent most of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future article topics. Reach her at joanie@jwexler.com. ARCHIVEArchive of the Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter. BONUS FEATUREIT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESTo subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007 |
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