CCIA: FCC Rules a Good Step Towards True Competition

File Under: News, 2007, Telecommunications

Jul 31, 2007

Background:

Today, the Federal Communications Commission adopted ground rules for its upcoming auction of high quality, 700MHz spectrum blocks for wireless broadband networks that could offer new services as early as 2010.   The FCC approved a bold new, pro-consumer policy of “open access” for one third of this spectrum, known as the C Block. This enlightened policy mandates handset device portability and prohibits application and feature blocking by any carrier operating over this particular network.

CCIA’s statement on the FCC decision follows:

“Today’s decision by the FCC is the beginning of what we hope will be a new era of openness in communications,” CCIA President and CEO Ed Black said. “Incumbent carriers, both wireline and wireless, have attained gatekeeper control over public airwaves and Internet transmission. Today’s order is not everything that wireless consumers need, but this new, open slice of spectrum may show the way for the rest of the public airwaves.”

U.S. wireless carriers today control which cellphones may connect to their networks, as well as the features and functions that will work on them. This situation stands in stark contrast to the retail choices and portability Americans enjoy by law for landline phones, computer modems, and fax machines. Most European consumers already enjoy handset portability and freedom from blocking among mobile service providers.  

Thanks to today’s Report and Order, wireless customers will have the right to use any compatible wireless device and any mobile broadband application on at least one future wireless network. This laboratory of free innovation has the potential to liberate consumers from the restrictive and uniquely American “locked handset” regime nationwide.
 
Of course, the FCC still has not ensured that new entrants will actually compete with incumbent carriers. Startups, even if they win at auction, will lack the massive network assets and customer bases of the major national carriers, which were themselves largely established in an era of government sanctioned monopolies, subsidies, and cellular duopoly. Barriers to entry still hamper new entrants and underline why CCIA believes a wholesale access structure is important for introducing new competition and consumer choice.

CCIA hopes that the FCC will continue its focus on ubiquitous broadband deployment and mobile open access to Internet applications and content.  In the meantime, we celebrate this Commission’s first significant open access decision.