[wired epicenter] The same week that AT&T forced SlingMedia to cripple its iPhone application (yet another victim of its veto power), its D.C. lobbying group proudly told federal regulators that U.S. customers were benefiting from a highly competitive mobile phone market full of cool apps, fun handsets and choices for all.
The nation’s cellular carriers are concerned that once Congress confirms a new regime at the FCC, it will force them to open their networks, play fair with smaller carriers and be more transparent with its customers and the government. While the mobile industry likes to pay lip service to openness, when it comes to openness requirements, the industry turns to lobbyists, filings and lawsuits to fight them.
So it’s not surprising that in a letter to the FCC Tuesday, CTIA (The Wireless Association) trumpeted “the unparalleled value that U.S. consumers enjoy, driven by the competition and innovation in the industry.” Relying on a Merill Lynch study, the Wireless group points out that U.S. customers pay lower per-minute fees, that some cellphone users can choose from tens of thousands of apps, and that the top four carriers in the United States have less of the market (86 percent) than in any other of the top 25.
That’s deceptive math, according to the Consumer Union’s Senior Counsel Chris Murray, who told Congress last week not to be hypnotized by per-minute cost statistics.
“It is the cost to the consumer that matters, and U.S. consumers pay more for wireless service than other developed nations — an average of $506 each year, higher than the OECD9 average of $439, and way above countries such as Sweden ($246), Spain ($293), and Germany ($371),” Murray told Congress in written testimony. He also noted that charges keep going up for text messaging, even though the service is virtually free for carriers to run.
Mobile Carriers Tout App Stores to Fend Off Regulators
see also CTIA filing and
Murray testimony
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment