NET NEUTRALITY UPDATE: Free Press Urges FCC to Investigate MetroPCS 4G Service Plans (press release)
Bill Densmore
Forwarding a news release from Jenn Ettinger of FreePress . . . if I see
any response from MetroPCS, the FCC or the telcom industry I'll move that
on these lists also. -- bill densmore
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 2011 10:37:04 -0500
From: Jenn Ettinger <jett...@freepress.net>
To: mediag...@journ.umass.edu
Subject: Free Press Urges FCC to Investigate MetroPCS 4G Service Plans
January 4, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jenn Ettinger, 202-265-1490 x 35
Free Press Urges FCC to Investigate MetroPCS 4G Service Plans
Mobile Provider Builds Walled Garden for Mobile Web
WASHINGTON - MetroPCS has announced changes to its 4G service plans that offer a glimpse of the future of the mobile Internet, as blessed by the
Federal Communications Commission, where carriers, not users, decide what content is important.
In its new scheme, MetroPCS is advertising unlimited talk, text, “Web browsing” and YouTube at a base price of $40 per month -- with
additional features like mobile instant messaging or access to audio downloads available on higher tiers for another $10 or $20 per month. But the new
MetroPCS plans exist inside a “walled garden” that appears to exclude Skype, Netflix and other popular consumer Internet services.
Free Press Policy Counsel M. Chris Riley made the following statement:
“In December, the FCC chose to disregard wireless protections in its Net Neutrality order, and MetroPCS’s new scheme is a preview of the
wireless future in a world without protections on the mobile Web. Such blocking of websites, services or applications would clearly be prohibited and
deemed unreasonable on a cable or DSL network. Are these the kinds of restrictions the FCC really wants to promote on wireless networks?
“The open Internet order approved in December stated that the FCC was not implicitly approving practices on the mobile Web that violate its rule
against unreasonable discrimination - and now we’ll see whether the agency is willing to do anything about such practices. Silence in the face
of ongoing violations is no different from outright approval. If MetroPCS is allowed to engage in rampant discrimination and blocking of Internet
applications and services, will Verizon be next? Will AT&T extend its history of blocking services like VoIP and Sling on its LTE network in the
future?
“MetroPCS’s plan will restrict consumer choice and innovation in a developing mobile market, all for the sake of further padding its
bottom line. The FCC must not stand idly by while carriers are engaging in anti-consumer and anti-competitive behavior, and we urge the agency to
investigate.”
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