I find it amazing that in this day and age “the powers that be” inside large corporations like Verizon Wireless are still holding on to the old rules of business. The latest example of this comes as Google is pushing the FCC to solidify Verizon Wireless’ commitment to open access of the 700MHz spectrum.

Google, along with several consumer groups, pushed for the open-access rules in the auction for the 700MHz band, which many wireless experts see as spectrum that’s suited for long-range wireless broadband services. Google pledged to bid at least US$4.6 billion on the C block, but the company lost to Verizon’s $4.7 billion bid.

Technology needs this type of open access to move forward. We learned this lesson way back in the day when AT&T tried to stop the “Hush-A-Phone” attachment.

…. by 1948, the Hush-A-Phone was doing well — which was when AT&T, the operator of the US phone system, decided enough was enough. At the time, AT&T owned not just the network but also every telephone connected to it, and it had the right, it claimed, to ban “unauthorised foreign attachments”.

Hush-A-Phone fought back, and a legal battle dragged on for several years before a court found in the funnel-maker’s favour. “To say that a telephone subscriber may produce the result in question by cupping his hand and speaking into it, but may not do so by using a device which leaves his hand free to write or do whatever else he wishes,” the judge concluded drily, “is neither just nor reasonable.”

In this case the AT&T phone was the equivalent of the 700MHz spectrum. If it was closed to third party development, we might not even have the internet at this moment because AT&T would have had the right to not let you connect your computer to it!!

You see where this is going. Open access is key to innovation. It helps to maintain a competitive market place and stops monopolies. I understand why Verizon wants it to be closed. There is nothing like monopolistic business practices to pad the bottom line, but let’s hope our regulators have their heads on straight.