Exclusive Handset Prohibitions: Should the FCC Kill the Goose that Laid the Golden iPhone?

10 Pages Posted: 16 Jun 2008

See all articles by Barbara S. Esbin

Barbara S. Esbin

Federal Communications Commission

Berin Szóka

TechFreedom

Abstract

My colleague Barbara Esbin and I address a petition filed by the Rural Cellular Association (RCA) asking the FCC to prohibit exclusive arrangements between wireless handset producers and carriers. The RCA petition claims that large wireless companies have an unfair market advantage by giving their customers exclusive access to certain advanced smart phones, such as the Apple/AT&T iPhone - and that this anticompetitive practice is harmful to rural consumers served by RCA members.

We debunk RCA's arguments premised on a supposed lack of competition in wireless markets. We also explain the virtues - or at least, the practical necessity - of exclusivity: such arrangements ultimately benefit all consumers by allowing handset manufacturers (i) to fund expensive development efforts for new mobile products through revenue-sharing and (ii) to develop truly innovative devices by ensuring that new services function properly on the provider's network.

Keywords: FCC, iphone, communications, exclusive, progress and freedom foundation, handset, wireless, internet, apple, at&t, smart phone

Suggested Citation

Esbin, Barbara S. and Szoka, Berin, Exclusive Handset Prohibitions: Should the FCC Kill the Goose that Laid the Golden iPhone?. Progress & Freedom Foundation Progress on Point Paper, Vol. 15, No. 8, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1144720

Barbara S. Esbin

Federal Communications Commission ( email )

445 12th Street SW
Rm. TW-B204
Washington, DC 20554
United States
202 418-0535 (Phone)

Berin Szoka (Contact Author)

TechFreedom ( email )

110 Maryland Ave NE, Suite 409
Washington, DC District of Columbia 20002
United States

HOME PAGE: http://techfreedom.org

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
127
Abstract Views
921
Rank
402,428
PlumX Metrics