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Verizon Gives Wink, Nod to Martin
FCC, incumbent stage show continues...

Verizon is now joining AT&T in saying they support FCC chief Kevin Martin's plan to attach at least some conditions to the upcoming auction of 700Mhz spectrum. Verizon's press release says they oppose auction conditions on principle, but the Wall Street Journal today indicates the company is on board with Martin's plan:

quote:
Lowell McAdam, chief executive of Verizon Wireless, says the company would agree to rules requiring the network operator who wins a portion of the spectrum to allow any device onto its network -- not just those the operator sells in its stores. But Verizon says the operator shouldn't be required to guarantee that all games, video and the Web applications on the new phones will work properly. Verizon also said it would reserve the right to continue blocking certain applications and features for phones it sells.
Verizon Wireless is probably the most restrictive wireless carrier in the industry. The company has imposed invisible data caps on "unlimited" plans, prohibits everything but browsing and email in their wireless broadband TOS, prohibits the use of 3G Wi-Fi routers and frequently cripples phones in order to nickel and dime consumers.

Note that few people in the industry have actually seen Martin's plan yet, but with both AT&T and Verizon giving it a preliminary stamp of approval, you can be relatively certain that it doesn't have enough teeth to threaten incumbent interests or change the industry in the slightest.
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FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

2 edits

FFH5

Premium Member

FCC auction rules expected next Tuesday

We won't have to wait long for what the actual auction rules will be. It is expected the auction rules will be released this coming Tuesday by the FCC when the mtg scheduled to start at 10 A.M. EDT ends.

»hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_ ··· 16A1.pdf
nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD

nasadude

Member

Re: FCC auction rules expected next Tuesday

we don't have to wait at all - I can tell you right now what they will be:

- token acknowledgement for open access (carterphone), that will likely be easily evaded or ignored by the incumbents when they use the spectrum

- nothing whatsoever about net neutrality requirements

- nothing whatsoever about open networks (wholesale requirements)

- bulk of the rules will favor the incumbents over startups as they will be rules the incumbents have asked for or indicated are acceptable to them

I will also predict (really just wishful thinking, because I don't have enough information) that the auctions will not bring in the amount of money the FCC would like to see, mainly due to the lack of participation by anyone but the incumbents.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: FCC auction rules expected next Tuesday

said by nasadude:

we don't have to wait at all - I can tell you right now what they will be:

- token acknowledgement for open access (carterphone), that will likely be easily evaded or ignored by the incumbents when they use the spectrum
The main rule of interest should be whether the auction will use open or closed bidding.

Open bidding allows those with the most cash(big firms) to rig the bidding in their favor against smaller companies bidding on smaller blocks of spectrum.

Closed bidding gives the little guys a better chance at getting a piece of the pie.

The pressure on the FCC from Congress has been to use closed bidding. It brings the most money to the Treasury and also gives the little guys a shot.

The choice that the FCC makes will show how much they are willing to bend to the changes in Congressional makeup effected by the last election.

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

morbo

Member

like AT&T merger conditions? unenforceable

this is such a joke. how can i bring about the end of telco?

ropeguru
Premium Member
join:2001-01-25
Mechanicsville, VA

ropeguru

Premium Member

Hmmmm...

If they are giving approval, we can most certainly expect them to get the most out of it. No way will they not complain about something that may deprive them of total control of everything.

No to ESPN
@sbcglobal.net

No to ESPN

Anon

First Off the Name is CELLCO PARTNERS

There is a minor rebellion in the ranks due to the internal GPS being deactivated by VZW on the 8830 even though it was advertised in a Spring 07 brochure as having GPS. So for those who are considering legal action remember the name to put on the legal documents is CELLCO PARTNERS d/b/a Verizon Wireless. Just some friendly help.

By the way I support the new spectrum having no restrictions allowed by the carriers. The existing wireless carriers on the whole are not a group that should be allowed to bid as they have not shown themselves to have any ethics.

tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Gulfport, MS

tc1uscg

Member

Re: First Off the Name is CELLCO PARTNERS

said by No to ESPN :

The existing wireless carriers on the whole are not a group that should be allowed to bid as they have not shown themselves to have any ethics.
Nice.. can't say the "other guy" has ethics either. My money is on deep pockets. Not some company run out of some guys barn in rural Indiana. This is a case of those who have and those who don't. Big telco, the ones with money and a tight grip on the airwaves, should not have to spend all the money for build outs and spectrum buying only to allow leaches (for lack of better terms) to run up with hands out wanting pretty much a free ride. This has AOL wanting to ride BB at the cable companies expense written all over it. Want to play, then partner up. Can't partner up, then find another job.

MrMoody
Free range slave
Premium Member
join:2002-09-03
Smithfield, NC

MrMoody

Premium Member

Surprised?

I'm not.

Maxo
Your tax dollars at work.
Premium Member
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL

Maxo

Premium Member

Google

Google could really put it's money where it's mouth is and outbid everyone. That's pretty unlikely, but would be pretty cool.

whamel
Premium Member
join:2002-05-09
Evergreen Park, IL
·AT&T FTTP

1 edit

whamel

Premium Member

ahhh shiz....

I just got (literally a few days ago) the Verizon Broandband/natl' Access plan with the USB720, never even knew of the data caps. But since this article is newer, even though linked to an older article and subsequent discussion of the caps...I had to post it here.

PS: I have been using a lot of bandwith for LEGAL bit torrent downloads on my plan.
jimbo21503
join:2004-05-10
Euclid, OH

jimbo21503

Member

Re: ahhh shiz....

Research my friend

whamel
Premium Member
join:2002-05-09
Evergreen Park, IL
·AT&T FTTP

whamel

Premium Member

Re: ahhh shiz....

ehh...i dont have the time nor patience to read the cra*ppy fine print. not like i bought the thing primarily for bit torrents, just happened to want to get these torrents (from »www.dreamingtree.org ) when I was using Verizon's airwaves.
jimbo21503
join:2004-05-10
Euclid, OH

jimbo21503

Member

Re: ahhh shiz....

said by whamel:

ehh...i dont have the time nor patience to read the cra*ppy fine print. not like i bought the thing primarily for bit torrents, just happened to want to get these torrents (from »www.dreamingtree.org ) when I was using Verizon's airwaves.
Actually I never read the fine print either (not really worth the time to understand it anyway), but I do read the message boards to see what others think of a service/product.
ossito16
join:2004-07-31
Whiting, IN

ossito16

Member

TMobile & sprint

What are these guys doing about it? It seems like this is a prime opportunity to grab some huge customer loyalty. These two should bid together with google put a hurt on Att and vzw.

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Karl Bode

News Guy

Re: TMobile & sprint

Google (ads), Sprint and Clearwire combined could be your ticket....