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14 March 2008

The CTIA And Double-Standards On Text Messaging

Filed under: mobile network operators - 14 Mar 2008

Amazing, the comments I posted to this post on the CTIA blog got posted! One of them even got responded to. Someone must be asleep at the switch. :)

Carriers don’t block text messages between users, they say. They probably …

13 March 2008

Location Based Services Generally Too Creepy For Me

Filed under: mobile network operators, software - 13 Mar 2008

We like to think–perhaps naively–that nobody can track where we are on our mobile phone. The fact of the matter is, the cell providers have to know where you are …

11 March 2008

They May Not Block Text Messages, But What About Common Short Codes?

Filed under: mobile network operators, telecom - 11 Mar 2008

CTIA BlogI am not aware of anyone suggesting that carriers are actually blocking text messages. That’s something common carriers would not be allowed to do under the U.S. laws, anyway.

Leave it to

10 March 2008

Is Prepaid Right For You? Do The Math!

Filed under: mobile network operators - 10 Mar 2008

A recent comment on my wireless service in Indonesia post along with a conversation I had with someone in our local Office Depot reminded me to re-examine the whole prepaid …

1 March 2008

Voicemail MAX–More Craptastic Innovation From MNOs

Filed under: mobile network operators - 01 Mar 2008

Alltel Wireless, the largest of the regional CDMA mobile network operators (MNOs) announced they are now giving customers the ability to “personalize” their voicemail greetings with one of over 500 sound …

22 February 2008

What The “Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008″ Is Trying To Fix

Filed under: mobile network operators - 22 Feb 2008

In this installment of “PhoneBoy says where the CTIA is wrong again,” the CTIA thinks that we shouldn’t be attempting to regulate what Internet service providers should and should not do regarding access to the Internet. The CTIA, …

4 February 2008

Common Short Codes Like 900/976 Numbers? Huh?

Filed under: mobile network operators, telecom - 04 Feb 2008

Nokia SMSThe CTIA is baffling me again. This time it is with their non-sequitur response to the whole issue of Common Short Codes, which the folks at Public Knowledge are petitioning the …

29 January 2008

Does The CTIA Listen To Consumers?

Filed under: mobile network operators, telecom - 29 Jan 2008

CTIA BlogI saw a post on the CTIA Blog saying they were opposing some legislation the Consumers Union–the folks behind the Consumer Reports magazine–were proposing to “regulate” the wireless industry. …

25 January 2008

Various Ways We Get Rogered In The U.S. On Mobile Phone Service

Filed under: mobile network operators - 25 Jan 2008

Ball and ChainI know I’ve been ragging a lot on the mobile industry lately. They make it so easy. Continuing in that vein, a reader commented on my Reality Check: Wireless

21 January 2008

CTIA Opposed To Arizona’s Cellphone Users Bill Of Rights

Filed under: mobile network operators, politics, telecom - 21 Jan 2008

Arizona Capital Roof

It seems like I’ve been ragging on the CTIA quite a bit lately, but these guys make it so easy.

In what turns out to be absolutely no surprise to anyone, the fine folks at the CTIA–the
industry association for the mobile operators in the U.S.–are opposing Arizona Senate Bill S-1010: The Cellphone Users Bill Of Rights. Why might they be doing that? Let’s see what the CTIA association president Steve Largent says:
The truth is that when you attempt to regulate a modern, high-tech industry as if it were a 1970’s public utility service, you wind-up hurting the people you’re seeking to protect. Just imagine the cost increases and customer confusion that would ensue if wireless carriers were forced to abandon their national calling and data plans, advertising campaigns, billing and customer care systems in order to set-up and comply with dissimilar regulations in 50 - or even two - different states.
Are they really asking for anything that would affect that? Let’s see what S-1010 is asking for:

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