IP Democracy: The Closed U.S. Cellular System is Cracking

The closed and limited nature of the U.S. mobile communications system is under great strain and the cracks are starting to show. The New York Times Laura Holson has this thumbsucker today that explains it all. Silicon Valley is battling the top U.S. mobile carriers, while the iPhone has given consumers a tantalizing peek into what kind of cool applications they could have but for the slow-moving AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

More intriguing to me is what T-Mobile has up its sleeve. The European-based carrier has a better intuitive sense of open mobile networks and has already stepped up to the plate. It will introduce an open standards-based phone based on Google's Android thingee (set of specs, platform, whatever you call it.) As the WSJ's Amol Sharma points out, T-Mobile has always been willing to break with industry orthodoxy in the U.S.

T-Mobile also has a secret weapon, barely mentioned when the company's plans are discussed: it owns $4.2 billion in advanced broadband wireless spectrum in the U.S., having emerged as the top bidder in the important AWS auctions in 2006. Despite its third-ranked status, T-Mobile has enough firepower to roll out next-gen services in markets with a combined population of 475 million.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on November 12, 2007 8:20 AM to IP Democracy