Wireless still has limitations as a substitute for...
Wireless still has limitations as a substitute for wireline CD Aug 23 p1), Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood told us in an email. “It’s less reliable when the power goes out,” he said. “Everyone has experienced dropped calls. And…
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it’s subject to much lower data caps even when everything is working smoothly,” he said. While wireless voice might be a substitute for wireline in many cases and a cost-effective alternative for carriers, “that’s not the whole story,” he said. “We have to ask first whether things like voice calls, health monitors or credit card processors work just as well on narrowband wireless networks as they do on wireline.” Verizon’s plans to offer wireless infrastructure as it rebuilds copper facilities on Fire Island, N.Y., “show that the answer to that question is mixed at best, which has real implications for Verizon customers,” Wood said. “The even more important question though is what protections we'll have for consumers, competitors and innovators in an all-broadband world, when voice and data are nothing more than applications on the same platform.” The FCC then will need to ensure that network “remains open, affordable, reliable and universally available,” he said, “no matter what the underlying technology is, or what information the broadband telecommunications network carries."