I’m not the only one that thinks smartphone operating systems (OS) are “critical to the future of the mobile broadband platform.” Fierce Wireless recently reported that “cell phone operating systems are becoming the deciding factor, not the hardware platform itself.” The article, written by Fierce Wireless: Europe editor Paul Rasmussen, also noted that “the alliance between Microsoft and Intel” produced an “utterly convincing victory [in] the desktop/laptop OS battle.” After noting that Android has surpassed the iPhone OS in global smartphone sales, Rasmussen asks whether Google is looking to achieve the same dominance in smartphones that Microsoft/Intel enjoy in the PC market. The obvious answer is “yes.” The more interesting question is whether Google will succeed – a question that yields no easy answer.
Posts Tagged ‘ Wireless Mobile Broadband ’
The FCC’s Section 332 Problem: Why the FCC Can’t Regulate Mobile Wireless Broadband as a Common Carrier Service
Rumack: Elaine, you’re a member of this crew. Can you face some unpleasant facts?
Elaine Dickinson: No.
Airplane (1980).
In 2007 (while I was Wireless Bureau Chief at the FCC), the FCC issued a declaratory ruling (“Classification Order”) classifying for the first time wireless broadband services as “information services.” Perhaps more importantly, the FCC found that “mobile wireless broadband Internet access service is not a ‘commercial mobile service’ under section 332 of the Act.” (Classification Order at para. 1). The latter finding is likely fatal to any attempt by the FCC to reclassify mobile wireless broadband service as a common carrier service subject to Title II regulation or data roaming obligations. Why is this finding so pivotal to ongoing debates at the FCC regarding the regulatory treatment of mobile wireless broadband? Read the rest of this entry »
FCC Public Safety Report Undermines Analysis in Mobile Competition Report
In my analysis of the FCC’s 14th Mobile Competition Report (“14th Report”), I noted that the 14th Report lacked relevant data supporting its conclusion that spectrum below 1 GHz may provide competitive advantages. Among other things, I noted the 14th Report failed to consider elements affecting cell density other than propagation characteristics – elements such as capacity, geographic terrain, and typical power levels.
Now the FCC itself has confirmed the relevance of these factors to cell density. In a white paper released this week (“Public Safety Report”), the FCC published “a technical analysis of the capacity and performance of the public safety broadband network assuming that the National Broadband Plan recommendations concerning this network are implemented.” (Public Safety Report at 1.) Read the rest of this entry »
TAGS:
700 MHz Infrastructure public safety spectrum Wireless Mobile Broadband
Broadband Stimulus: The Missed Opportunity
After speaking about broadband stimulus at an RCR Wireless event last week, I was approached by an engineer that was a volunteer application reviewer for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”). He said that he had review a number of fixed wireless applications and scored them very highly, and was later shocked to find out that NTIA staff had rejected his findings in favor of granting middle mile proposals. The engineer felt betrayed. Read the rest of this entry »
SkyTerra, Transparency, and the Data
The FCC espouses transparency and data driven decisions. So what happened in the SkyTerra transaction order released last Friday? A trio of Bureaus/Offices (collectively, the Bureaus) approved a transaction with no real analysis of significant, novel conditions. Without analysis, it is hard to say that these ostensibly “voluntary” conditions were transparent or data driven. Either way, they constitute an entirely new approach to the wireless market. Read the rest of this entry »