Once upon a
time, wireless carriers in the U.S. intentionally disabled handsets they sold/leased
to prevent subscribers from using Wi-Fi in lieu of licensed and metered
spectrum. Time passes and demand for
wireless spectrum skyrockets. Apparently
Verizon and other wireless carriers now so need more spectrum that they have
unlicensed Wi-Fi spectrum in their sights.
All to better serve consumers, of course.
Can you see
the irony here? Rather than compete on
price, wireless carriers used to emphasize quality of service, availability and
signal strength. They spent millions on
advertising explaining the superiority of their networks and billions in
acquiring licensed spectrum. Now they
seem to have come upon a strategy that uses spectrum that they cannot control
and must share with home Wi-Fi users apparently with no diminution in service,
or congestion. No “tragedy of the
commons” overconsumption, because the wireless carriers will have techniques to
avoid interference—apparently without having to identify vacant spectrum before
using it.
If licensed
wireless carriers had their way, there would be no unlicensed spectrum for
voice and Internet access. You should
read their filings over the years explaining the catastrophic consequences of
noncommercial, private and unlicensed spectrum use. These carriers wanted to charge for Wi-Fi
service. Failing that gambit, they want
to expropriate unlicensed spectrum and convert it from noncommercial private
use to commercial, for profit use. What
a deal! Is this country great, or what?
Verizon et
al will try to explain how access to Wi-Fi is essential, right now! Of course they will try to frame the Wi-Fi
option as having nothing to do with saving money, or not having to invest in more spectrum.
Carriers no
longer seem concerned about offloading traffic and free riding on the
broadband and wireless spectrum of others.
This practice used to be derisively termed “hot potato routing.” Now it’s a clever and greedy gambit to avoid
paying their fair share for the bandwidth and spectrum they use.
1 comment:
Funny, but few understand or speak to the fact that Steve Jobs single-handedly resurrected equal access in 2007 using a 1938 loophole in the Telecoms Law that provided "garbage" spectrum for shared use. This spectrum was considered garbage because it's the same frequency that water molecules resonate at and therefore provide MW ovens the ability to warm foods.
Anyway it happened because AT&T was desperate to close the performance gap with Verizon and with their lousy 3G coverage agreed to iOS autonomy and wifi offload for iPhone exclusivity. The OTT and app ecosystem genie was out of its bottle.
More importantly, as users and app developers could interact with fewer constraints usage exploded. And that not only pulled more 3G investment, it paved the way for 4G to develop more rapidly.
In fact, in every instance over the past 33 years where there has been mandated equal access or interconnection the incumbents have benefited, not been hurt, by the subsequent demand elasticity and ecosystem network effect.
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