US edges towards mobile antitrust case

Calls for an investigation into monopolistic practices by US mobile operators have been answered with a review by the Justice Department that could quickly turn into an investigation. On Monday the chair of the Senate antitrust subcommittee, Herb Kohl, wrote to the FCC and the Justice Department, regarding operators abusing …

[Anonymous Coward]

Excuse me?

"Exclusive deals do lead to cheaper handsets"

Like O2 and the iPhone?

Cheaper than what?

Exclusivity means you can charge whatever you want, because if that's the device people want, they'll pay for it.

[Efros]

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

For Denmark read US mobile phone companies, US cable companies, etc. For a country that is so pro competition it is chock full of monopolies and cartels.

[Disco-Legend-Zeke]

Texting... Just another name for email

since texting is simply email, and a curtailed version at that, prices should be comprable to prices via Internet brand network of networks.

When AT&T introduced SMS, it was a free service to intice you to buy a text capable phone.

[Sean Bergeron]

This is good news for....

Sprint. Just like the DTV delay.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/01/4g-war-conflict-of-interests-loom-behind-possible-dtv-delay.ars

[MeRp]

oh how I hope...

perhaps if the main mobile carriers weren't so entrenched, we'd have some innovation here. As it is we just get recycled ideas that were interesting 2-5 years ago in Europe and Japan...

[Doug Glass]

Oh Goody

Maybe soon I'll have my choice of who not to buy from in place of being restricted to one bunch of corporate thieves trying to extort me.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sheople

The fact that the same sheople who would never tolerate Apple selling them a Mac with the requirement that they can only buy software directly through Apple to run on their Mac, blithely accept such constraints to their use of their own property when it comes to hand held computers like the iPhone, tells one quite a bit about the stupidity of the target markets for these devices.

[MacRat]

Just for Show

Washtington doesn't care about consumers. They just put on shows like this for pretenses.

It will be Big Business as usual.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep

The telcos are just getting started though, just look at what they're trying to do to broadband.

[Anonymous Coward]

@ Efros

As a Dane i recent the impied connection between Denmark and the US mobile industri.

[frank ly]

@AC 20:18 re Sheople

I think the established spelling is 'sheeple', being obviously derived from 'sheep'.

On immediate viewing, 'sheople' looks like it means a bunch of female people.

[Tom 13]

Oh goody, now the guvmint wants to control my cell phone too!

Damn good thing I don't pay for one.

Grenade because the "investigation" will be worthless while the cure will be worse than the disease.