There’s some interesting back-and-forth going on right now about what role the government can and should play in regulating the wireless industry and how it impacts consumers and business. Does the wireless industry need more regulation or less?
Over at the Washington Post, Josh Topolsky makes the case that the government needs to step up its game in order to deliver a better wireless experience for consumers (heck, he even says to “socialize it” in the headline). In particular, he talks about how the GSM/CDMA divide has been bad for consumers and that wireless operators are still planning to create an artificial divide with the next generation of mobile devices – AT&T and Verizon are both moving to 4G LTE but will be using different bands, so devices likely won’t be able to hop over to other networks with ease.
By contrast, European countries have taken a larger role in the standards for cellular technology and consumers have been able to quickly swap between carriers for years, as well as have faster data speeds. Verizon’s 4G LTE is nice but look at the types of speeds Stefan gets with 4G LTE in Finland.
Topolsky makes no bones about it: the government needs to play a stronger role in regulating wireless companies.
Washington should be aggressively regulating where and how private companies build wireless networks. The government should be taking an active role in the corralling and cajoling that is clearly required to make these companies compete in ways that benefit America as well as their own bottom lines.
The wireless industry in the United States doesn’t agree.
In a blog post, the CTIA wireless industry trade group hits back with some facts to dispute the notion that wireless service is better and more innovative in other areas. For example, compared to Britain, America has about four times the number of subscribers using four times the voice minutes for about a third of the price that U.K. customers pay for those minutes.
The CTIA argues that the U.S. carriers are leading the world in 4G deployment and this will lead to better services, better devices and more jobs for Americans – so stronger governmental interference isn’t really needed. To be fair to the U.S. carriers, it faces many challenges that its European counterparts don’t – primarily having to provide coverage over an extremely large piece of geography.
The CTIA said the government could have a major role in boosting the wireless industry by making more spectrum available soon.
Once our members pay for this spectrum, it will fuel the “virtuous cycle” of innovation that has been in place since the industry started in 1983. With more spectrum, the network providers will improve their capabilities by making it faster and able to accept more users. Then the manufacturers will take advantage of these new opportunities in their next-generation devices. Then the apps and content creators will create new offerings so consumers, who ultimately benefit from this cycle, can enjoy the new and “hottest” wireless products and services.
Alright, I understand that this can be a hot-button topic involving deep political beliefs but let us know what you think and why in the comments and please try and be respectful.