08/28/09 - USA Today: Rural USA left out on mobile service. Op-Ed by Niel Ritchie
Rural USA left out on mobile service
8/28/2009
Broadband adoption is essential to economic recovery and, for rural America specifically, wireless broadband is critical to getting connected ("Plans for fast links in rural areas due," Money, Aug. 13).
So why would we allow barriers that deny rural Americans access to broadband-capable wireless devices?
The big national wireless companies are denying rural America access to the best broadband-capable devices by using exclusivity arrangements that lock all the best smartphones to a single network. If your community isn't served by the national carrier that controls the iPhone or Palm Pre, you lose access to these broadband-capable devices.
These phones aren't toys; they're tools for business and essential in parts of the country where meeting with customers or clients can mean traveling hundreds of miles of back roads.
Rural Americans aren't the only victims. We all pay a premium for wireless because chaining consumers to a single wireless network short-circuits competition. You can't switch networks without destroying your expensive investment in a phone because it's barred from being used with another carrier. That's why Europeans, who are free to match their device and network, pay $70 to $200 less for service than we do.
Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department are all investigating how these handset deals are harming consumers and limiting access to technology. It's about time. Because rural America won't benefit from broadband if we can't get broadband-capable devices.
blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/08/letters-rural-usa-left-out-on-mobile-service-.html
