Wake Up Call for Cell Phones.

Me: “OK, I like this computer. How much is it?”
Salesperson: “Depends. What type of connectivity do you want?”
M: “Why does that matter? I want the computer.”
S: “Well, you can’t expect us just to sell you the computer without it
being connected, can you? We’ll sign you up with our partner offering
broadband connectivity. So do you want a flat-price or do you want to
pay per bit?”
M: “I thought pay-as-you-go died with Compuserve?”
S: “And here is the two-year contract for the connectivity. Pay
attention to that fine print that says you are going to lose your shirt
if you decide to drop the service.”
M: “But what if I don’t like the service. Can I get someone else to give
me broadband?”
S: “Sure, as long as you pay us off for the rest of the contract. And
remember you will have to buy a different computer to use that service.”
M: “Wait, the whole reason I am getting the service was to get the
computer. Now I have to buy a whole other computer if I don’t like your
service?”
S: “You must not understand technology very well. Do you expect one
computer to connect to different networks?”
M: “Why not?”
S: “And here are a list of the applications and programs you can install
on your computer.”
M: “It’s my computer, why can’t I install whatever I want on it?”
S: “Because it might mess up the network. And here are a list of the
internet sites you can visit using this computer. There are over a
hundred of them.”
M: “You mean I can’t go to whatever sites I want?”
S: “Why would you want to? Our company has partnered with content
producers to bring you exactly the range of content that you should
want. And these partnerships work well for everyone.”
M: “Except for me.”
Salesperson: “Now that we are talking about you, we really encourage
people to get dressed before they shop for computers. Do you walk around
often in only your underwear?”

Then I wake up.

What if cell phones had come before computers? The restrictive pricing,
policy, and service plans that cell phone customers suffer through with
cell phones could have become the standard for the internet? Where would
the internet be today? Yeah, it is the nightmare scenario.

But things are changing quickly. At least Verizon seems to be waking up
to what people want. In November, Verizon announced that it was opening
up its network to phones and applications not produced by the company (you can read more at http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/11/verizon-opens-u.html.
If you have a compatible phone or application, Verizon will allow you to
use it on its network. Now we are getting somewhere – but you still
can’t bring your iPhone because it uses a non-Verizon standard (CDMA not
GSM for you geeks out there).

And the long-term future looks even more promising. Soon the FCC will be
auctioning off prime spectrum for cell-phones, 700MHz. Think of this as
beachfront property for telecoms. 700MHz waves travel farther and
penetrate things like buildings better. Last year Google pressured the
FCC to include “open access” provisions in the auction rules for this
juicy spectrum. The end result could be that carrier that wins will be
required to allow any device and any application to work on its network.

Maybe soon, the supposedly most technologically advanced nation in the
world will enjoy the same rights as consumers in the developing world.
We will be able to choose both our phone and our carrier! Yes, that is a
dream come true!