FCC takes on Apple. Cause for celebration? Maybe not.

I see that the FCC reads our blogs! A couple of weeks ago I bemoaned the naked commercial tactics of Apple blocking Google Voice from its App store (What’s good for the goose is good for the gander) and hey presto, the FCC pops up and calls in the case (read more).

Perhaps this issue has opened the FCC’s eyes to that fact if we’re going to have a debate about an open mobile web; it’s not just the mobile service providers who need to be bound up with net neutrality legislation. We’re very literally at a crossroads in the communications and technology worlds today with the coming together of three major pieces of enabling technology: 4G broadband wireless networks; cloud-based applications, processing and storage and ever smarter devices.

All three of these key components must be open, with core standards and codes of behavior. But should those standards be from the heavy hand of government, enshrined in law? Or should we rely on the market backed up by tough anti-trust and competition laws? As I’ve said before, the market moves much more quickly than regulators who often regulate for yesterday’s problems at the expense of tomorrow’s opportunities and I’m quite sure that Google is more than able to sue Apple rather than letting the government do it for them.  

My beef is that communications companies are heavily regulated worldwide - and there are proponents of net neutrality who’d like to see the level of regulation actually increase. Meanwhile, the other two legs of the stool – the devices and the services (increasingly in cloud form) – have standards in place but no regulations. If normal laws of economics can work for software, services and devices, why fetter communications with often outmoded and out of touch legislation. Regulations have lots of unexpected consequences - not least the fact that taxpayers around the world are having to stump up to pay for broadband fiber to be installed  - legislation has squeezed any economic lifeblood from fixed access networks preventing normal commerce to invest in them.

The 4G/ cloud based/ app based world we’re entering is reminiscent of the Wild West and brings up some unpleasant questions that need to be addressed. For instance, if I put my data into a cloud-based service, will I ever be able to get it back out again? Will I ever be able to switch to another provider? And how can I compare cloud pricing if there’s no standard list of features that all cloud services should have. If a particular cloud interface is proprietary, how can I possibly shift my data from one provider to the other, and is the concept of data portability even possible?

But just like the Wild West, after a bit of lawlessness, normality takes over and it’s usually market economics that win. Trade associations like TM Forum have an important role to play in these discussions, and we’ve taken the first steps toward addressing critical issues regarding regulating and managing devices and services that haven’t traditionally been under the long shadow of mandated government rules.

I think now is a great time to start the debate and talk about what to do – with or without the FCC. The communications services, data and devices of the not-so-distant future are relying on us today to make wise choices that won’t have to be undone and unlegislated just a few years down the road.