Google, Wireless Carriers and Cell Phones Unchained

I can pick any gas station I want to buy that expensive fuel that powers our cars. When (if) I buy a new car, I can still pick any gas station. And this I think is how the wireless industry should work. I should be able to buy a cell phone with the features I want at a price I can afford. I should then be able to pick a carrier for that phone. If I don’t like one carrier, I could go to another without service penalties or the requirement to go out and buy yet another phone. Currently the Federal Communications Commission is in the process of deciding how to auction and allocate a chunk of spectrum. In this case, the 700 MHz spectrum once used by television. Google has said it will pony up at least $4.5 billion for the auction, but wants a set of conditions for what it defines as open spectrum. The carriers have jumped in saying Google can’t have it both ways, either you have a wide open auction with no preconditions, or you don’t. The wireless industry should operate on features, benefits and the ability for the consumer to get the best deal they can without being trapped into service contracts or phones that are crippled to work on only certain networks. That freedom of phones and carriers would be the equal to happy motoring for me.