Rural wireless phone carriers are pushing the Federal Communication Commission to consider giving them access to other companies' exclusive cell phones, after a Japanese company recently announced it would begin doing so for customers in the spring. "The FCC is investigating whether exclusive handset deals are anticompetitive," Cecilia Kang of The Washington Post reports on the Post Tech blog. For instance, Apple’s iPhone runs only on AT&T’s network, and the Palm Pre is exclusive to Sprint Nextel. Rural carriers say aren’t able to strike the same deals with manufacturers.
NTT Docomo of Japan announced starting April 2011 it will "preinstall its phones in Japan with software that will unlock the device upon request," Kang writes. The move came following a call from Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to unlock handsets in order to give consumers more choices. "I strongly urge the FCC to take similar pro-consumer action," Rural Cellular Association President Steven K. Berry wrote in a letter to the agency. "Doesn’t the American consumer deserve a similar freedom to choose the carrier and handset they desire?"
"The rural wireless trade group has been lobbying for the agency to break open the handset market, where carriers take on marketing costs for manufacturers and offer other incentives to attract the sleekest and most-desired new gadgets," Kang writes. Without exclusive deals rural carriers say it's hard for them to attract customers who demand the latest and trendiest phones. "The issue has a potentially impact on the bottom lines of wireless carriers, as well," Kang writes. "Rumors of the iPhone going to Verizon, for example, have sent AT&T’s stock lower and Verizon’s higher." (Read more)
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