What exactly does ‘open’ mean?: Carriers stake out positions amid uproar

Google Inc. and the upcoming 700 MHz auction seem to have sparked an “open” movement among U.S. carriers. Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility have been preaching their new “open” message from the public pulpit, and the mainstream press has embraced the carriers’ new mantras, which include phrases like “any device” and “any application.”
But just how open is “open”?
After all, there are still basic barriers between network technologies that will severely curtail this “any device” business. A GSM phone still won’t work on a CDMA network, and vice versa. Consumers aren’t going to be able to take their AT&T Mobility Razr-or their iPhone, for that matter-and plop them onto Verizon Wireless’ CDMA network. Nor will they be able to take their CDMA-based LG Chocolate to AT&T Mobility to get Rollover minutes.
If you’re Verizon Wireless, “open” seems to mean substantially lowering the bar for device manufacturers and application developers, requiring only basic technical compatibility. However, the carrier still retains the final say-so on what devices and apps get approved.
AT&T Mobility’s response
As far as AT&T Mobility, it’s a case of no-news equals new-news. The carrier made a big splash when USA Today breathlessly announced this week that the carrier “flings network wide open.” But wait-users have always been able to bring an unlocked GSM device (as long as it works on the appropriate GSM frequencies) to the carrier, according to AT&T Mobility spokesman Mark Siegel, and the carrier is happy to sell them a SIM card tied to a rate plan and send them on their way.
This is a little-used option for several reasons, Seigel pointed out: The customer presumably pays full price for the device, since it isn’t subsidized by the carrier; and if the user has any problems, they won’t get technical support from the carrier. Instead, the customer will have to deal with the manufacturer or whomever they bought the device from (which is not particularly helpful with, say, an eBay purchase).
So really, AT&T Mobility changed nothing, it’s just talking up the option and making sure its salespeople are familiar with it in case the carrier’s customers heard some of the Verizon Wireless flap.
Siegel said that in addition to accepting unlocked devices, AT&T Mobility will provide unlocking codes for its own devices to customers who have fulfilled the terms of their contracts and want to take their device with them to another GSM carrier. However, the iPhone is a “special case,” he said, which means the device will remain locked to the AT&T Mobility network.
Sprint Nextel’s applications
Asked about Sprint Nextel’s approach to open access, carrier spokeswoman Jenny Walsh Kiefer emphasized Sprint Nextel’s history of supporting off-deck applications and services, as well as the carrier’s openness to the developer community.
“We’ve always had an open network in that application developers are free to write applications and services that can be available and accessible from the open Internet, as opposed to just from the Sprint home deck,” said Walsh Kiefer. “In that sense, we consider our network to have been open for application development all along.”
Further, Sprint Nextel has promised its WiMAX network will be open to compatible devices and applications.
“Openness promotes choice, and that’s great for consumers. People are demanding more flexibility and personalization of their wireless service in an Internet world, and carriers must adapt and seek new approaches. That’s why T-Mobile USA Inc. is a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance; we’re focused on helping spur wireless innovation to provide consumers with more choice,” said T-Mobile USA spokesman Peter Dobrow. “From a hardware standpoint, most GSM handsets can be used on our network as long as they support U.S. frequencies and are unlocked.”
The birth of open access
The open-access fracas caught fire during discussions over the Federal Communications Commission’s upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction. Google and others petitioned the agency to set open-access conditions on spectrum; the FCC largely complied with requirements on the 22 megahertz C Block. That block has a $4.6 billion minimum bid requirement.