FCC requires open access, reasonable costs

[Randall-12]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/135637;_ylt=Ag4OY2cjFsP3YTYgTpX.v4thr7sF

Grant Gross, IDG News Service

Tue Aug 7, 6:00 PM ET


Mobile telephone carriers must allow customers' competitors to  
connect to their networks, and they must make roaming available to  
competitors for a "reasonable" cost, the U.S. Federal Communications  
Commission said Tuesday.



Reacting to complaints about large carriers charging heavy roaming  
fees to customers of smaller competitors, the FCC voted to require  
that mobile carriers provide roaming services on a nondiscriminatory  
basis. Providing roaming connections is an obligation of commercial  
mobile phone carriers, the FCC said.



In addition to mobile voice calls, carriers must provide roaming to  
competitors for text-messaging and push-to-talk services, the  
commission said.



The FCC's two Democrats applauded the majority's decision, but said  
the commission should have extended the roaming order to broadband  
data services as well. "I believe we should have taken another step  
forward today," said Commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat.  
"Consumers rely upon their mobile handsets these days for a dizzying  
array of data services, going well beyond those we cover in today's  
item."



The commission declined to set roaming rules three times since 1996,  
but some consumer groups have complained about roaming fees as high  
as US$0.79 a minute. The fees have been particularly high for  
customers of small, rural carriers accessing large carriers'  
networks, Copps said.



"Today's item is good news for consumers who want to be able to use  
their mobile phones as they travel across the United States," Copps  
added.



Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell said he supported the FCC's  
"narrowly tailored" decision. The new rule does not set roaming rates  
or launch an investigation into roaming fees, he said. "Our light  
regulatory approach will benefit wireless consumers because we are  
allowing the industry to fulfill consumer expectations of anytime,  
anywhere communications through seamless roaming arrangements,"  
McDowell added.



Large mobile carriers such as Sprint Nextel Corp. argued against new  
roaming rules, saying a competitive market was taking care of the  
problem. More than 8 percent of wireless calls were roaming calls in  
1996, compared to less than 2 percent in 2006, Sprint Nextel said in  
a letter to the FCC dated July 23. Average roaming charges have  
dropped in that time from $0.82 per minute in 1995 to $0.04 in 2006,  
Sprint Nextel said.



But the Rural Cellular Association urged the FCC to set roaming rules  
for voice and data on mobile networks. Small carriers asking for  
roaming agreements for data have been rejected by large carriers, the  
trade group said in a letter to the FCC July 18. "Consumers need and  
should have access to voice and data services at all levels,  
including 3G and higher, when they leave their home carrier's service  
area," the letter said. "When the market fails, as it has here, the  
commission must step in to allow consumers to use their wireless  
equipment to access other carriers' high speed networks."



The new roaming rules require automatic roaming connections when the  
equipment is technologically compatible.



"Consumers increasingly expect that their mobile phones will function  
where they work, where they play, and where they travel," said FCC  
Chairman Kevin Martin. "Automatic roaming fulfills these expectations  
in a manner that is seamless and transparent to the consumer."



My Original Writing blog: http://itgotworse.livedigital.com


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