The Rural Cellular Association, seeking FCC rules limiting handse...
The Rural Cellular Association, seeking FCC rules limiting handset exclusivity agreements, Tuesday said a new policy that Verizon Wireless announced last week doesn’t go far enough (CD July 20 p1). The association said the policy only applies to new…
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handsets and the restriction “eliminates the ability of all small, mid-size and regional carriers to ever sell any of the 50+ handset models currently within Verizon Wireless’ device portfolio,” including the popular BlackBerry Storm. It also questioned why Verizon Wireless limited the benefit of the new policy to carriers with fewer than 500,000 subscribers, providers “dwarfed” by the four major carriers. “Although this policy change will bring an end to Verizon Wireless’ use of exclusive handset agreements lasting more than six months -- a significant development -- the commitment does not go far enough to rectify the consumer and competitive harms caused by these agreements,” the association said. “Neither Congress, nor the Department of Justice nor the Federal Communications Commission should allow any carrier to unilaterally dictate the nation’s telecommunications policies, particularly as the policies affect handset availability.” The Verizon Wireless announcement, together with expressions of concern by members of Congress “provide notice to AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile that the long-term exclusive handset arrangements that they continue to benefit from -- at the expense of consumers and vibrant competition -- are coming to an end, particularly as these arrangements receive more scrutiny from the public and private sectors,” the association said.