As the wireless industry aims to work together to exploit data initiatives and conserve cash through network sharing, it continues to play hard ball whenever it has the chance.
The competition is the enemy, after all. It must be frustrating to “work” with them. And yet, against the backdrop of myriad partnerships that haven’t worked out (at one time, Nortel and Motorola tried to sell each other’s products) some cooperation is taking place. That’s how standards get built.
But as competition becomes more intense, cooperation may get pushed aside.
Witness these RCR Wireless News stories: T-Mobile USA sent an urgent letter to its New York dealers telling them that if they choose to sell Cingular services and handsets in their stores, they will lose their T-Mobile business. (It must be hell to be a dealer in New York.) Never mind that the two carriers share the same network. Never mind that the two companies have been linked as potential future mates. (I guess that’s not going so well.) The venom is showing. LNP is coming. Carriers are going to be more aggressive in getting customers under their belts-and keeping existing customers-before Nov. 24.
Likewise, Nextel and Verizon are battling nearly every angle of press-to-talk service. Verizon has accused Nextel of spying on its upcoming PTT service and now is arguing Nextel’s claim to the trademark PTT. (By the way, I called that one last week.)
The nastiness between Sprint PCS and its affiliates was bound to turn ugly as soon as the market stopped its fast-track growth because Sprint PCS has the licenses, but the affiliates run the network.
On the handset front, Nokia and InterDigital are disputing intellectual property royalties for GSM-based technology. InterDigital is basing its proposed royalty fees to Nokia on the fees it charges Ericsson. Nokia disagrees.
Perhaps the most interesting battle during the past week has to do with Congress’ plans to reverse the Federal Communications Commission’s move to allow media companies to own more properties in a single market. The timing of the battle is curious because the week started out with rumors that FCC Chairman Powell was planning to leave the agency soon. Powell (and his boss, President Bush) supported loosening media ownership rules. Powell already saw the rug pulled out from under him a few months ago when FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin voted against him on what was known as the Triennial Review, which dealt with landline competition between Bell companies and alternative telecom carriers. Now his other big deregulatory initiative is falling apart before his eyes. Whether it sways him to leave the agency remains to be seen.
