Worst of the Week: Time to take a breath

Hello! And welcome to our Friday 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 RCRWireless.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way. We hope you enjoy it!
And without further ado:
Despite my inability to walk and chew gum at the same time, not to mention my Cro-Magnon-like posture, I am all for progress. Whether that progress is genetic or technical, I say bring it on. (Whoops, I just spit my gum out of my mouth.)
However, when it comes to the wireless telecom space I am starting to pull the reins in on that gung-ho thinking. I think we have hit a point where we need to take our collective feet off of the accelerator pedal and allow reality to catch up with the fantasy that we should be able to do anything we want with mobile devices. (For this I blame Hollywood, what with its sexy actors using a mobile phone while under water or using a non-international Verizon Wireless phones under the Eifel Tower.)
The item that sent me over the edge on this topic was the announcement this week between Verizon and Google regarding network neutrality. While all of the main points made in the announcement centered on setting up a way to provide greater access to wired broadband networks, the plan left out any control or rules for content shipped across wireless networks.
This omission stirred up a hornet’s nest of hemming and hawing from many quarters with claims that by leaving wireless out of the equation, the wireless industry was somehow sticking it to consumers. Just reading the comments left at the end of the above-mentioned story provides a good understanding of that argument.
The obvious reason that wireless was left out is that wireless networks are nowhere near ready to handle true open access and with how fast the development of applications running over the Internet are progressing, I doubt wireless networks ever will be able to handle the load. Sure, wireless technology can allow access to the Internet, but we have to make it clear to consumers that just because they can stream high-definition video content over their home Internet connection, that is just not a possibility for wireless connections.
And don’t think people aren’t gearing up to take advantage of the mobile Internet.
Ericsson announced just this week that mobile data traffic has tripled over the past 12 months with nearly 225,000 terabytes of data transmitted over mobile networks per month during the second quarter of this year. I have no idea how much data that is, but I am guessing since it sort of sounds like a Teradactyl, it’s got to be a lot.
Domestically, Chetan Sharma Consulting reported that mobile subscribers in the United States consumed 230 megabytes of data per month during the second quarter, which was a 50% increase in six months.
And, all of that traffic is flowing over current 2G and 3G networks that were never really designed to handle the amount of data traffic now being generated. Carriers quickly realized this limitation when the initial rollout of 3G services included unlimited data plans that within months had to be adjusted to capped plans as consumers took advantage of that unlimited option.
Sure, the current push to “4G” technologies is expected to provide a significant increase in a network’s capabilities to handle increased traffic loads, but broad deployment of these networks is still years away and most carriers are still hampered by a lack of spectrum capacity to really open those networks up to unfettered access.
I applaud a carrier like Clearwire that has to this point kept a more open mind toward unlimited mobile Internet access through its WiMAX network, though even Clearwire has a clause in their terms of service that allows the carrier to throttle down network speeds if a user gets carried away downloading high-definition movies.
And, for a carrier like Verizon Wireless or AT&T Mobility that are also trying to serve more than 90 million-plus people on their 2G/3G networks, I don’t suspect they will be able to free up much additional spectrum beyond the 20 megahertz or so they currently have set aside for 4G over the next 10 years.
So, with 4G networks still several years from broad deployment and access to enough spectrum to let these networks run free not due for between five and 10 years, how in the world can we expect networks to handle the load that application developers, device makers and consumers are just waiting to exploit.
Again, I am not trying to be a buzz kill on the wonders of mobile Internet services, but the reality is that unless the industry can somehow tap into alien technology that will allow it to suddenly match the carrying capacity of wired networks, it must start putting a concerted effort into educating the masses as to the limitations of mobile networks.
OK, enough of that.
Thanks for checking out this week’s Worst of the Week column. And now for some extras:
–Is it just me or do others cringe when they are forced to take an important call using their mobile device. Look, I am all for the wonders of mobile calling, but I rarely get a connection that is anywhere near as clear as a wireline call and usually end up having to apologize to who I am speaking to because of the poor quality of my connection. Most of the time I am stuck with a connection that leaves out every other word, or seems to convert voices into some high-pitched shrill that makes me want to pull my ears off. Some connections are of such poor quality that they make a Skype call seem like I am whispering into the other person’s ear.
I would love to eventually get rid of my landline connection and go all-mobile, but until wireless call quality can come close, and I mean remotely close, to a landline call I will keep my landline.
–I think it’s time we start some sort of movement to save our ability to easily access the batteries that power or increasingly power hungry devices.
In a time that I call B.I. (Before IPhone) handset makers would never have thought of locking away a device’s battery either permanently or behind some mouse-trap like contraption that made it virtually impossible for customers to get their grubby little fingers on the phone’s power source.
But now it seems that virtually every new smart phone in an attempt to look sleeker has done away with easy-to-use latches that previously placed a battery within reach of consumers. Most now have some elaborate locking mechanism that when attempted to breach results in either a broken cover or tab or even better a fingernail ripped from a user’s hand. (Let that mental image sink in for a bit.)
This is especially appalling as devices are becoming more power-hungry yet battery technology is unable to keep pace resulting in customers rarely able to get a full-day of use out of their precious mobile devices. Carriers on occasion have tried to temper this battery drain issue, most compelling was the Samsung-supplied Instinct at Sprint Nextel that included both a spare battery and battery charger. U.S. Cellular has also done its part by allowing customers to swap out dead batteries for live ones at any retail location.
Regardless of how this issue is handled, we must not let device makers and carriers design away our rights to accessing our batteries!
–A company with the awesome name of Protectyourbubble.com sent along a list of excuses used by iPhone owners as to why they needed to file a claim for damages and some of the most common claims. Some of the best:
1. I dropped it from a hot air balloon.
2.
I lost it while sky diving.
3. I accidently buried it in the garden.
4. Juice from a defrosting piece of meat leaked into it.
5. It flew out of the car window.
6. Stolen while texting.
7. Internet connection completely broken.
8. Leaving phone on the car roof so it falls off when driving.
9. I dropped it in a food blender.
10. I am an idiot and should not have been allowed to own something that I obviously could not take care of. (Not on the list, but a good summation of what people should have said.)
I welcome your comments. Please send me an e-mail at dmeyer@ardenmedia.com.