Worst of the Week: Quit fiddling!

Hello!
And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There’s a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way. We hope you enjoy it!
And without further ado:
So I try not to pay attention to what happens in Washington; it generally makes my head hurt. However, there are a few issues that our nation’s regulators and policy makers are currently debating that affect the wireless industry, and those issues are troubling enough that I’ve actually devoted what small amount of brain power I have toward the situation.
And, naturally, my head hurts.
But here’s what I’ve discovered:
1. A variety of Washington players have been calling for carriers to open up their networks. Skype and Google have led the charge, and their concerns sparked the FCC to place open-access conditions on a third of the 700 MHz spectrum it auctioned earlier this year. Although Skype’s petition to require wireless carriers to open their networks looks like it’s headed for failure, the issue remains.
2. Also in the FCC’s recent 700 MHz auction, the agency placed some even more restrictive conditions on the D Block, such that a winner would have to share the spectrum with police, firefighters and other public-safety agencies. Not surprisingly, this spectrum did not get purchased, and now the FCC is going to try to re-auction the spectrum.
3. And finally, the FCC has begun looking into wireless carriers’ early termination fees. Some in Washington think that these fees should be eliminated, and that wireless providers should be required to overtly explain their service fees and pricing scenarios.
So what does all this mean? I think it means that there’s a little too much interest from Washington in the inner business workings of the nation’s wireless carriers.
I mean, there are currently four separate, competing nationwide wireless carriers in the U.S. market, plus a number of regional players. Although the differences among the various companies and their offerings are not terribly great, the same can be said for any industry (your average Ford works just about the same as your average Chevy, for example). And there’s plenty of heated competition in wireless, evidenced by the seemingly endless changes carriers make to their pricing plans and the constant stream of new and innovative handsets available.
This leads me to believe that there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the business models present in the wireless market. So why do our nation’s legislators feel the need to tweak and fiddle? I would say that the whole thing smacks of communism, but that would make me sound crazy. So I’ll just say that it smacks of socialism, and call it good.
As the saying goes, “If there’s nothing wrong with it, don’t let Mike near it because he will break it.”
OK! Enough of that.
Thanks for checking out this Worst of the Week column. And now, some extras:
–New numbers from browser company Opera show that almost 90% of mobile Web surfers are male. I’m sure this comes as a surprise to no female, all of whom I’m sure already know that males are dumb.
–SkyTel’s ReFLEX paging network sold for $7.5 million. I can only assume it brought in that much money because it’s now a collector’s item. I’m guessing it will be on display in the next episode of “Antiques Roadshow.”
–I received a number of e-mails about last week’s column, “Worst of the Week: The 3G iPhone comes in black and white?!?!?! Wow!!!” Here’s a paraphrased version of most of those e-mails: “You’re an idiot. What are you, like nine years old?” Here’s my response: “Yes, I know. And no, I’m not.”
I welcome your comments. Please send me an e-mail at mdano@crain.com.