Yea, the iPhone is locked to AT&T. No, it doesn’t seem fair. But, what’s a nation to do? Well, the Congressional Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet is holding a hearing today to discuss whether it is “fair” to bundle cell phones with certain wireless carriers. The debate is officially titled, “Wireless Innovation and Consumer Protection,” but is being referred to as the “iPhone hearings.”
Committee Chairman, Ed Markey, told The Street that, “We need to unbundle phones,”adding that, “The consumer should be king and should be able to take their device with them, to whichever network provider is offering them a better deal…”
The result of today’s debate will determine the future of the mobile industry – not only in how mobile phones are bundled (or, “locked”) to a particular wireless network, but also in how the upcoming 700Mhz wireless frequency spectrum will be deployed. Former FCC Chairman, Reed Hundt, called for the creation of an open, high-speed data network from the auctioned airwaves. Current FCC Chairman agrees with the sentiment that the winner of the newly opened spectrum provide an open-platform for “innovative services for consumers.”
Could Congress go so far as to force AT&T and Apple to release their strangle-hold on the iPhone and actually order the colluding duo to open the iPhone to other networks? Possible, if not probable.
Still, it would be nice.
[Via: Tech.Blorge]