The details for the new BlackBerry Tour 9600 smartphone have been released in preparation for the official launch by Verizon on July 12, and the specifications have a soporific sameness to them. Looking similar though thinner than the Bold 9000 (sold exclusively through AT&T in the US), the Tour is designed as a CDMA/EVDO Rev A smartphone for world travelers. So along with the CDMA capability, the Tour features quad-band (850/900/1800/1900MHz) operation on GSM, GPRS, and EDGE networks, and single-band (2100 MHz) UMTS/HSPA support for 2G and 3G use worldwide. What it doesn't feature is Wi-Fi support.The sameness quality is a reference to Verizon's last major BlackBerry exclusive, the touch screen Storm, which also lacks Wi-Fi support, apparently at Verizon's request. The Bold does feature Wi-Fi support, though without a VoIP client for voice calling on Wi-Fi. There is a rumor that Verizon has sanctioned a Wi-Fi capability to be included in the upgraded Storm 2 due to be released in September, but how long do these guys think they can put a stranglehold on technology?
From a marketing standpoint, you have to question the thinking behind offering a touch screen device to challenge the iPhone that doesn't support Wi-Fi. Probably they're thinking, we're a monopoly, so take what we give you and like it. However, it's time to realize that the "circle the wagons" mentality that drives the cellular business is a sign of weakness, not strength.
Fortunately this cabal that I have dubbed the "unholy alliance" between cellular carriers and handset manufacturers might finally be coming to an end. The FCC announced it will launch an investigation into these exclusive handset deals. In a speech at the Pike and Fischer Broadband Summit, then-acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps said:
"In the fast-changing wireless handset market...we must ensure that consumers are able to reap the benefits that a robust and innovative competitive marketplace can bestow". He went on to say: "The commission, as the expert agency, should determine whether some of these arrangements adversely restrict consumer choice or harm the development of innovative devices, and it should take appropriate action if it finds harm." Newly confirmed FCC Chariman Julius Genachowski apparently favors this investigation as well.
Copps' speech came as several U.S. senators and consumer rights groups have also begun to question exclusive handset deals. Not surprisingly, the arrangement getting the most scrutiny is AT&T's exclusive for Apple's extremely successful iPhone in the U.S. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Commission conducted a hearing on exclusive handset deals last Thursday.
While it is encouraging that we might finally get some relief from the hidebound marketing tactics of the cellular giants, I'm not holding my breath. The cellular telephone business is a multi-billion dollar industry with ample resources to go on a marketing/lobbying offensive that could tie this entire process in knots for years to come. As Verizon and AT&T have both come out firmly against changing the rules of their game, we can be quite certain they will fight this tooth and nail.
In written testimony to the Commerce Committee, Paul Roth, AT&T's president of retail sales and service said:
"The current business and regulatory framework--which allows service providers and device manufactures to partner and share risks to develop the most compelling devices--ensures innovation, lower prices, and choice." He went on to say that ending the exclusivity deals "would serve only to harm consumers, as devices would devolve into the lowest common technological denominator and the key pillars of wireless competition would evaporate".
You've got to love anyone who can be so unabashedly preposterous. I guess the Internet would have been better off if we let the Bell System run it. If you have been halfway conscious for the last two decades you should be able to realize that self-serving mechanisms created to protect entrenched oligopolies do not favor the consumer and do not foster technological innovation. The amazing thing is that the mobile operators have been able to carry on this charade for this long.
While I am not optimistic that we would see real change in the cellular industry in the near term, the tide might finally be turning. The combined pressures of market demand, open handset initiatives, and the consumer's flat out disgust at being treated like a lackey might finally start things moving in the right direction. Unlike initiatives like network neutrality, which devolve into questions that will anesthetize all but the policy wonks, everyone knows they're being taken for a ride by the cellular carriers. We might finally have some real basis for hope here.
