[CAnet - news] Cellphone Straitjacket Is Inspiring a Rebellion

[It is good to see this type of debate occurring in the US and other
international jurisdictions.  In Canada we can only hope and dream. The
Canadian policy on foreign ownership of telecommunication companies is an
Economics 101 textbook case of such a policy minimizes effective foreign
competition resulting in Canadians paying extremely high prices for cellular
data, and more significantly limiting innovation. Thanks to Dave Macneil and
Michael Geist's blog for these pointers -- BSA]

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/2385/196/
Canadian Mobile Data Rates on the Decline
The Seaboard Group has a study that points to a significant decline in
mobile data rates in Canada since June, particularly for Bell and Telus
customers.  That timing coincides with the release of the iPhone and the
mounting criticism of Canada's lack of competitiveness in mobile data
pricing.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/technology/12cell.html?th&emc=th


>From the NY Times, November 12, 2007
Cellphone Straitjacket Is Inspiring a Rebellion

First come the grumblings, then the torches and pitchforks.

Consumers have never been happy about their cellphone carriers and the
services they provide - or refuse to provide. But they also have hardly the
means to do anything, except switch from one carrier to the next.

But a rebellion is brewing in the communications industry that is expected
to pit wireless carriers, including AT&T and Verizon Wireless, against
Silicon Valley powerhouses like Google. The tussle might undermine the
control incumbent companies have over mobile phone consumers by giving them
a few weapons to strike back.

The first salvo came last summer with the release of the Apple iPhone,
which, with its easy-to-use features, redefined how mainstream consumers
view hand-held devices. Last week, Google generated fanfare when it
announced plans for the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of companies
working to turn mobile phones into hand-held computers that can offer a
variety of applications and services.

In addition, federal regulators are moving to create a more open national
wireless network when it auctions off spectrum licenses in January that
would allow bidders to build a network free from carrier constraint.

At the heart of the tension between the different camps is whether the
wireless network should be open, much like the Internet is today, or remain
under the watchful control of companies like AT&T and Verizon Wireless, a
joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone. Carriers, who paid
billions of dollars to build their networks, are unwilling to open them.

For others, change can´t happen soon enough. As such the alliances and
partnerships struck now are likely to shape the industry over the next five
years.

"It is the battle of the overdogs," said Tom Wheeler, a venture capitalist
and former chief of the CTIA, a trade group for the wireless industry. "They
are all jostling back and forth to be leaders of the next generation. The
question is, how do I position myself? It is a territorial battle."

Indeed, the rift has spilled into public view. At CTIA´s Wireless I.T. and 
Entertainment conference in San Francisco last month, a woman attending a
panel discussion with representatives from AT&T, Verizon and Sprint Nextel,
stood at a microphone wagging her finger and chiding them for being too
controlling, as several others in the audience whispered and nodded in
agreement. The next day, at a panel on social networking, executives griped
that software developers would not prosper unless phone companies were less
greedy.

"Definitely there is hostility," said David Weiden, a partner at Khosla
Ventures in Menlo Park who has previously worked at McCaw Cellular, Netscape
and AOL. "There are enough catalysts for change now, and it is already
happening."

But the question many are asking is why the tension now, in contrast to,
say, six months ago? The catalysts are threefold, said Mr. Weiden: the
proliferation of new technologically advanced mobile phones, greater
bandwidth and increased competition. But mainstream consumers too are being
conditioned to expect more, particularly after the debut of the iPhone which
offers easy-to-use Web browsing, Wi-Fi capabilities and high-quality video.

Indeed, Shahid Khan, a partner at the IBB Consulting Group in Princeton
Junction, N.J., said he believes wireless networks will go the way of the
Internet, where closed communities like AOL once dominated, then later
morphed into hybrids. Now services like AOL co-exist, albeit in a less
powerful state, alongside open networks.

"The industry is really at an inflection point," said Mr. Khan.
[...]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/technology/12cell.html?th&emc=th

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