As senators in Washington ponder net neutrality issues as it pertains to terrestrial cable and telecommunications networks, eBay Skype VoIP Provider has asked the FCC to open cellular networks to external applications and devices. While obviously self-serving, the request sparks debate about what kind of role consumer choice should play on the public airwaves.
Specifically, Skype asks the FCC to enforce the Phone card ruling from 1968 to today’s cellular communications industry. Prior to that decision, AT&T determined what type of device could connect to its network, typically a phone device that they sold exclusively.
As a result of Carterphone’s failure, the telephone company’s control of the network stopped at the telephone jack. Consumers could choose from an avalanche of new devices and technologies entering the market. From answering machines to fax machines and finally the modem: a major factor in the Internet boom of the 1990s.
Since the FCC began auctioning off public radio spectrum in the 1990s, the growth of cell phone industry it has multiplied, changing the very face of telecommunications and the way people communicate around the world. New technologies flourished, and today, cellular networks they can only carry voice, but they are themselves an extension of the Internet.
Device developers and manufacturers have come up with mobile applications such as text messaging, email, full internet browsing, music and video downloading and uploading, mobile office applications, VoIP and more. The new generation of cell phones are now called smartphones and they can do just about anything your computer can do. The phones are built with multiple radios that can access cellular frequencies, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, and can seamlessly switch a call from a cellular network to the much cheaper Internet via VoIP over Wi-Fi Connection.
Denial of US cell phone services
While many of these apps and capabilities are available on networks abroad, in the US it’s a different story. As quoted by Dr. Tim Wu in his article Wireless Net Neutrality, “…cell phones widely available in the United States are only a small fraction of the phones available in the world.”
As it stands today in the US, the cellular industry has been reduced to four major carriers based on two different technologies, all jealously guarding their networks. Verizon and Sprint use the CDMA (code division multiple access), and AT&T (formerly Cingular Wireless) and T-Mobile employ the GSM standard (Global System Mobile), which currently enjoys around 73% of the world market share.
Like with AT&T before Phone cardAll carriers sell their own phones and block others’ access to their networks to varying degrees, using different methods. CDMA phones use an electronic serial number (ESN) registered by the carrier’s network. Verizon will not allow a phone on their network that is not sold by them. Sprint will allow you to register a non-Sprint device, but strongly discourages it and does not offer technical support for such phones.
GSM networks use a SIM card, a chip that contains subscriber information and is designed to allow phones to switch networks by inserting the appropriate carrier’s SIM card. Phones sold by AT&T and T-Mobile come with the SIM card disabled, effectively locking them into the network. It is possible, though not easy, to unlock these phones, and it is also legal to do so in the United States. AT&T and T-Mobile, not wanting to go too far, allow their phones to be unlocked after an initial period of ownership.
In a bid to keep users on their networks and thus increase revenue, mobile phone companies have crippled apps enjoyed by others around the world. The very popular activities of downloading music, pictures, and videos are available in the US cellular market, but try to send an email or upload to an unapproved location, and your efforts will likely be blocked. You can, for an additional fee, of course, upload and share your media on carrier-approved websites.
Bluetooth Wireless technology allows devices to communicate with each other over a short-range, low-band radio frequency. Bluetooth-enabled wireless printers, computers, mobile phones, and headsets allow users to upload and download media, send files and photos to a printer, and talk on their cell phone hands-free. However, US carriers have at some point crippled many of the features available through Bluetooth technology.
Probably the most disruptive technology for the cellular industry is wireless. The 802.11b/g standard enables a broadband wireless connection suitable for email, web browsing, device-to-device communication, and the dreaded and extremely cheap Voice over Internet protocol. internet telephony you can bypass cellular networks by sending voice directly over the Internet via a landline or WiFi connection.
Device manufacturers can and do build Wi-Fi into their phones, but cell phone carriers in the US have fought tooth and nail by crippling Wi-Fi in their devices and requiring manufacturers to make non-Wi-Fi versions of their phones for the US market. While it is technologically possible to load third-party applications, such as Skype, on a mobile phone, doing so on a WiFi-enabled cell phone would threaten the business model of mobile phone companies.
Today, you will find very few cell phones in the United States that are Wi-Fi compatible. Cellular phones are now available in Europe that can operate on the cellular network as well as corporate wireless LANs, integrating into the company’s IP/PBX telephony system.
Together with AT&T, Apple recently announced that its first iPhone coming out in June will have WiFi functionality, but to what extent remains to be seen. Unfortunately for Skype and others, no third-party apps will be allowed on the iPhone.
Major US carriers also offer broadband Internet access through their networks, primarily through an antenna attached to a PC card connected to a laptop. Cellular broadband access is in direct competition with WiFi hotspots appearing in airports, hotels, corporate LANs, and other public facilities. 802.16 in development WiFi max. The technology also threatens to add the metropolitan LAN in the competitive mix.
While WiFi is considerably faster than cellular networks, it is primarily designed for short-range networks and hot spots should be sought out. Cellular networks, for their part, can offer broadband access wherever their network reaches.
US carriers restrict what kinds of services, apps, and features are allowed on their network, and will terminate and charge users suspected of violating their contractual agreement. Basically, broadband services only allow email, browsing, and access to the corporate intranet. Download music and video from unauthorized sites (itunes Y Youtube for example) and P2P file sharing is prohibited and in some cases enforced by imposing strict bandwidth limitations on users.
How the Net Neutrality Movement Relate to the Cellular Industry
If the early development of the Internet can be compared to the American Wild West, then the rise of the American cellular industry can be compared to Stalin’s Soviet Union. Carrier networks rule developers, device manufacturers, and consumers with an iron fist, allowing only the services and features of their choice on their networks.
To be sure, there are some important differences between the Internet and cellular networks. US carriers have spent billions for their share of wireless spectrum and retain the right to determine what features are available to the consumer. Corporate executives argue that there is fierce competition in the cellular industry that should be the determining factor in consumer choice, as opposed to government regulation.
While the early days of the Internet saw massive technological innovation by developers and manufacturers due to its inherent openness, American cellular networks were proprietary and self-service from the start.
Tea net neutrality The concept grew out of a grassroots movement when cable and telecom executives began talking about charging high-bandwidth users like Google, Vonage and YouTube to use their channels. The fear that these companies could control what content would be available to consumers threatened the very foundation of a free and open Internet.
Cell phone companies, on the other hand, were from their inception companies that operated in a free enterprise society and, as such, have every right to dictate what services to offer. In the absence of any public outcry from consumers for the right to choose, regulation of the industry would appear to be anything but a foregone conclusion.
That said, implementation of the Carterphone principles would seem to be a logical step in avoiding monopoly-type tactics from an industry that is entrusted with the public airwaves. The other players in the telecommunications industry, including cable companies, must and must abide by the ruling.
What’s puzzling is that cell phone companies could actually open up more revenue streams by offering services that consumers would be willing to pay more for. Downloading music and video from iTunes, for example, could be charged by bandwidth usage, and cell phone companies could implement calling plans that include minutes used to make calls over the Internet.
Of particular interest to the business community is the concept of Fixed Mobile Convergencehaving a phone with a phone number that can traverse cellular and Wi-Fi networks, allowing calls to be made over VoIP and traditional landlines, in addition to the cellular airwaves.
device manufacturers such as Nokia already makes phones that integrate with corporate IP/PBX systems from Cisco, Avaya, Siemens and others, and will route calls over the best available network. While much progress is being made on this technology in Europe and other regions, the US market remains burdensome for developers and manufacturers alike.
It will be interesting to see how Skype’s petition with the FCC plays out. The application of the Carterphone judgment could possibly open the floodgates for new developments and technological innovations. Otherwise, the US cell phone industry will have to rely on weak market forces to catch up with the rest of the world.
