Rural carriers petition against exclusive deals

Exclusive deals between carriers and handset manufacturers has been a staple of the U.S. wireless industry. Manufacturer creates hot new handset, shops it around to carriers, and picks the one that gives them the best deal. This means more money for the manufacturer, since exclusive contracts cost more. And once the contract is up, the buzz is created, meaning people on other networks are eager to buy it up. Smaller, rural carriers loathe this practice, though, and it’s tough to blame them. What manufacturer is going to give an exclusive to a company with just over a million subscribers? Well, they’ve had enough, and are asking the FCC to look into the anti-competitiveness of these deals.

Of course, this means that we’re talking about open networks again, and we know that the major carriers oppose open networks. So this likely won’t go anywhere, considering the CTIA’s lobbying power. However, if we see a change of the guard in November, the issue could gain some momentum.

The election, of course, is probably what will preclude this move from being addressed before November. Public support would certainly help the Rural Cellular Association. Maybe they could spend this time showing everyone the effects of walled-garden networks, and how things could run more efficiently in an open environment.

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