FCC Hoping to Toss Verizon's Data Roaming Challenge

I'm hearing a lot of negativity from people in this forum expressing their dissatisfaction of the FCC's "intervention" with big business inside the wirless industry. One can only presume that most of these people are paid individuals associated with carriers.

Since I'm not one of these people, I would like to propose that each of you extract yourselves from the element for a moment and place yourselves in another industry. Let's say Gas and Electric. Imagine the repercussions we would endure if this industry were not regulated. We would stand little chance of voicing our concerns.

Now, if we take notice of the FCC's goal to ensure that all consumers have access to mobile broadband, we can easily assess that their reasoning is simple and straight forward.

Verizon(VZ) is asking a bit much here. Since VZW is licensing public spectrum, it seems only fair that VZW can sell their respective holdings to other carriers to resell to their subscribers. However, this is not the case. VZW is asking that they retain all the spectrum for only their services which would severely decompose the smaller carriers' chances to compete on fair terms. Many people purposely choose the less expensive carriers because they don't require consistent nationwide coverage. The smaller carriers realize that the occassional need to roam is essential in offering the freedom to have this feature. Competition is required to maintain a healthy balance for pricing and consumer interests.

So, even with some of the Government apppointed FCC's shortfalls, it would be wise to respect the presence and involvement of this agency. Those that look upon this differently, are shortsighted. Without the FCC, imagine the damage that the carriers could do to wireless services that have become a mainstream standard.

John B.