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Apr 1 2008 2:30PM EDT

No Open Mandate for Cell Networks - Yet

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, in a speech at the CTIA convention in Las Vegas, told the wireless industry he's going to a Skype petition that asks the government to force all wireless networks to be completely open. Of course, if Martin had told that audience he supported Skype's idea, he'd have found himself running for the exit.

Martin essentially said: give it time. Verizon and AT&T said they'll open their networks. Give them time to either prove they'll do it or prove they can't be trusted. If it's the former, why impose more regulation? Sounds, actually, like a perfectly reasonable position. As much as the tech industry hates closed wireless networks, it hates government intervention even more.

What does Skype want? It's waving around what has become a favorite banner among the tech crowd: the 1968 Carterphone decision. It forced AT&T to let any device by any manufacturer connect to its wired network, and it's a big reason wired networks are so open today. Skype and a lot of others would dearly love to see the wireless nets work the same way. In fact, so would Martin. He's just not willing to force it unless the cell carriers leave him no choice.

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