* Notoriously closed network operator Verizon Wireless opens up
Last week’s open-access announcement by Verizon Wireless has sparked reactions that run the gamut from enthusiasm to befuddlement to cynicism. In the end – regardless of what motivated it – the decision by the U.S.’s second largest cellular carrier to allow customers to decouple their service subscriptions from handset and application procurement can’t help but contribute to the innovation and flexibility needed to boost mobile data usage.
Last week’s open-access announcement by Verizon Wireless has sparked reactions that run the gamut from enthusiasm to befuddlement to cynicism. In the end – regardless of what motivated it – the decision by the U.S.’s second largest cellular carrier to allow customers to decouple their service subscriptions from handset and application procurement can’t help but contribute to the innovation and flexibility needed to boost mobile data usage.
Data currently makes up a very small percentage of cellular traffic, in part because of the historically closed nature of U.S. networks.
Just two-and-a-half months after challenging the FCC’s 700MHz open-access rules in federal appeals court as unconstitutional, Verizon Wireless turned around and said that late next year, customers would have the option to buy the carrier’s CDMA-based services separately from wireless devices and applications, which they could procure from other sources. The company will continue to offer its traditional model of bundling services with devices.
To date, Verizon Wireless has notoriously dug in its heels to maintain total control over its network and the devices, device features and the applications that run on it. But chinks have been appearing in the traditional wireless “walled gardens” of late, thanks to the FCC’s 700MHz open-access rules, powerhouse Google’s involvement to drive wireless open access and Sprint and Clearwire’s stated intent to make their Xohm WiMAX network open to any devices and applications.
Verizon seems to have figured out that if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
Verizon Wireless spokesman Jim Gerace says that the carrier won’t interfere with the applications running on the third-party devices. For example, VoIP applications, long a no-no under Verizon’s terms and conditions, will be permissible on the data network under the unpackaged service-device option.
The gotcha here for customers who purchase their handsets and applications from a non-Verizon channel is that their data subscription plans will carry usage-based billing. This setup protects, in part, Verizon’s potentially losing revenues from its traditional voice network to VoIP used under an “all you can eat” flat-rate data service plan.
It’s still to be determined whether VoIP will be allowed on the Verizon data network under the traditional bundled service-device model, Gerace says.
And devices will still have to pass basic certification testing to run on the network – a process still to be determined. Mike Disabato, a vice president at consulting firm Burton Group, wonders, “How open can the network be open if there’s a certification process? Anything complying with CDMA2000 standards should be able to work on their network.”
Gerace says that the testing will be little more than a connectivity check. He points out that since the Verizon network operates both in the 800MHz and 1900MHz bands, the carrier would like to test to make sure that any device sold to work on its network runs in both bands.
“If a device runs in only one band, the user’s coverage would be limited,” he explains.
