Wireless Industry Prepares To Defend Itself

CTIA -- The Wireless Association

As the Obama administration becomes more determined to bring additional scrutiny to the wireless industry, the CTIA is getting ready to defend themselves against the criticism.

On Thursday, the FCC will host a meeting to consider three inquiries into the wireless practices, including billing methods, exclusive handset arrangements and other ways the industry can become more competitive. Christopher Guttman-McCabe, VP of regulatory affairs at the CTIA, told ComputerWorld that the CTIA expects the FCC to go forward with the inquiries, and that the association will likely be given an opportunity to testify against the criticism at a later date.

Guttman-McCabe said the CTIA is confused by the inquiries: “The wireless industry in the U.S. has the coolest handsets, the applications are more robust, and the networks have the highest speeds with the lowest pricing. Can things get better? Yes. But things will get better.”

The CTIA has a number of points they are willing to bring up, including the fact that prices have fallen dramatically over the past 15 years; customer complaints have declined (other than about increased telemarketing calls about extending car warranties); there’s 100,000 applications being being sold in at least six major app stores, increasing from zero 14 months ago; and in the U.S., there’s by far more users of the fastest HSPA and EVDO networks.

One area he fell short on was the reason behind exclusive handset deals, such as AT&T’s grip on the iPhone. While he said he was willing to discuss it, he simply said: “That’s a good policy topic,” noting that some of the deals are difficult to understand.

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