Today AT&T announced that it was offering a new feature to some of its subscribers: unlimited calling to any mobile number. This comes after the news that they were also offering free microcells (little boxes that boost reception in your home) to some iPhone users, and that Verizon was offering unlimited wireless data to its own iPhone subscribers. Why is this flood of enticements evidence that there is not very much competition between wireless companies?
He then goes on to explain what is not the real explanation. The fact is that the FCC has forced interconnection and access fees for fixed carriers whereas it never managed to mess up mobile that way, yet.
You see I wrote of this almost twenty years ago. I thinks I did this almost a dozen times in different venues. The issue is simple, it is the same as the Tier 1 Internet backbone players, they peer, they share traffic so the cost is balanced. The free market plays a role and when it does the consumer benefits. Here is a classic case of consumer benefit. I tried to do this in the early 1990s and the FCC tried to block me. Fortunately they got side tracked on PCS auctions and managed to screw that up with the Next Wave give away. But alas I digress. This is the free market and competition and not the lack of it, read the history young man, it may tell you something.
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