[LINK] Wireless Oligopoly Is Smother of Invention

[Marghanita da Cruz]

Ivan Trundle wrote:
> On 16/06/2010, at 10:54 AM, Kim Holburn wrote:
> 
>>> If the people who brought us television had played by the same rules  
>>> that today?s wireless carriers impose ? we?d probably all be  
>>> listening to the radio.
> 
> I'm strangely ambivalent about this. Historically, it's how America evolved their mobile networks, and it is grossly inefficient.

Could be because it is a half baked analogy.

The prmise is wrong:
> Let?s recap the freedoms you have with your television: The specs  
>> are standard and public. Any company that wants to make a television  
>> ? whether it be an HD, 3-D, internet-connected plasma 6-footer or a  
>> handheld TV Walkman ? just makes a television, according to  
>> transparent (FCC) spectrum rules.
>>

and seems to be more about who is king maker "content" or
"delivery"

It is worth noting that Digital TV is broadcast in MPEG2,
the same format as DVDs. This is probably the distinction
between the handheld TV Walkman and the IPOD, mobile phones
etc which use H.264/MPEG3/4. The additional license for
MPEG2 would add an additional license fee to the Internet
and Telephony devices.

Ofourse, I am a supporter of Ogg Vorbis/Theora. HTML5 ended
up supporting both Video Codecs, but I don't recall any
suggestion of including MPEG2.

And to complete the picture, consider a USB Digital TV Tuner 
for a "personal computer".

> 
> However, it works. Sometimes it doesn't (AT&T's reputation for delivery of 3G services is not stellar).
> 
> Other countries have fewer limitations, and their systems work, too.
> 
> Making significant change to these systems is difficult, if only because it is not seen as monopolistic (though it is an oligopoly/cartel, as the original article suggests) - and in any event, intervention in established systems seems completely impossible in the US (the phrase 'banking regulation' comes to mind).
> 
> Having said all that, there are MANY phones which are effectively unlocked from a particular carrier in the US, and a whole army of people dedicated to unlocking a huge range of handsets.
> 
> iT
> --
> Ivan Trundle
> http://itrundle.com ivan at itrundle.com
> ph: +61 (0)418 244 259 fx: +61 (0)2 6286 8742 skype: callto://ivanovitchk
> 
> 
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-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
http://ramin.com.au
Tel: 0414-869202