FCC Head Wants New Wireless Devices Unlocked

[TheBORG] writes with news that FCC chairman Kevin Martin wants 700-MHz wireless devices and services to be unlocked. Spectrum auctions for the 700-MHz airwaves, being opened up for fixed and mobile broadband, are scheduled for early next year. "The proposed rules would apply only to the spectrum being auctioned, not the rest of the wireless business, which still makes most of its revenue from voice calls. But Martin's proposal, if adopted by the FCC, could reverberate through a U.S. wireless industry that has tightly controlled access to devices and services... Like most devices sold in the USA, the iPhone ... allows only features and applications that Apple and AT&T provide and works only with an AT&T contract. The FCC chairman said he has grown increasingly concerned that the current practices 'hamper innovations' dreamed up by outside developers. One example:... 'Internationally, Wi-Fi handsets have been available for some time,' Martin noted. 'But they are just beginning to roll out here.'"

Actually, he is a Bushite

[RingDev]

Actually he is a Bush appointee. He was one of the lawyers/advisers to Bush and Chenney in the 2000 election. He was then coat tailed into the White House as a legal aid working with the FCC and on some other telecomm/technology groups. He worked in the FCC under the previous FCC Chair before Bush nominated/appointed him to the Chair in 2005. His wife is one of Chenney's aids to boot.

My first thought is that Haliburton is getting into the wireless device industry and doesn't want to have to play nice with the existing heavily stacked market. Remember, the only thing better than big business to a Neo-Con is a big business that the Neo-Con has investments in.

-Rick

Re:Say it ain't so!!

[paulthomas]

Kevin Martin actually isn't that great of a guy. [slashdot.org]

Aside from this, I agree with the premise that phones shouldn't be artificially locked to a network, but I think that this is an issue for customers of cell phone manufacturers and not an FCC issue. I can buy and use an unlocked phone right now and use it with my current AT&T plan. I just won't have AT&T subsidizing the purchase.

Re:Is this as good as it sounds?

[Alex P Keaton in da]

If you are over what, about 35, you remember that land line phones were heavy items you leased from the phone company. If you wanted an additional one, you called, and waited for them to bring it... People under 30 tend to be shocked by that whole concept, now you can buy a phone for a few dollars at Wal Mart or buy a complex expensive one, regardless of who you get your land line phone service from. I imagine in the coming decades, young people will be shocked that we used to be stuck getting our cell phone from the cell phone company, and didnt just buy the one we want at Wal Mart of Best Buy and get service from the company we chose...
And for more proof that things dont change- people used to have "illegal" or "Hot" phones that they got from God knows where and hooked up themselves... Just like some people crack the software in their phones and use them outside of the cell company that sold the phone...

Re:Is this as good as it sounds?

[Sparks23]

My guess is some cell company might decide to charge for unlimited wifi calls, even though you're not using they're network.
I'm cheating 'cause I already saw the t-mobile ad.

As I understand it, though, the T-Mobile WiFi handset actually does have a fairly significant added value over most generic WiFi SIP or Skype handsets.

With T-Mobile's proposed service, if you find a WiFi hotspot it automatically logs into a VoIP service provided by /T-Mobile/, and your cellular number suddenly becomes your VoIP number. People call the same number, but it now rings over your WiFi connection and you talk without using minutes. Plus, the report I read on it suggested you could transition seamlessly between WiFi and GSM; walk out into cellular coverage, and it switches back to GSM and the handset and T-Mobile's network handle seamlessly moving the call from VoIP to GSM cellular without even hanging up.

The idea is that you just have one number, and those calling you don't need to know or care whether you're on a WiFi hotspot or out in cellular service areas. What you're paying for in their proposed service is not the network bandwidth, but a flat service fee for their VoIP system and related services.