FCC Law May Ban Carriers from Blocking Certain Mobile Apps

22nd September, 2009 by caitas
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It appears that the Federal Communications Commission will announce a new rule which aims in banning the United States network communication companies from occluding Internet-supported cellular applications. This rumor seems to be stated by an internal source from the Federal Communications Commission. The speculations state that Chairman Julius Genachowski will give more specifications about this matter on Monday at the Brooklings Institute. Washington Post states that the only piece of information it holds is regarding the fact that the Commission wants to assure the fact that carriers do allow all the mobile applications its customers desire to see or use.

This banning rule, if implemented, would be the first neutral one to be approved during the chair-time of Mr. Genachowski and is prone to trigger effects in the cellular market as well. The problem is that many network communication companies from the United States block specific types of applications for functioning on their 2G and 3G networks having competitive and technological concerns in mind. Some of the banned applications feature Internet phone calling and live video streaming. If the Federal Communications Commission imposes in act in this matter, it would mean that the mobile traffic will be free from the banning actions from the carriers` behalf, even though users may choose cheaper agreements or use the network capacity at its peak.

American Telephone and Telegraph Company is considered to be one of the blocking organizations. It is well known that AT&T obliges its users that have iPhones to use Wi-Fi for the iPhones applications comprising the voice service from Skype and the TV-phone connection supported by SlingPlayer. Even though the carrier allows Google Voice, for example, there is no indication that the provider would not get burned when the new legislation gets approved. The reports made in front of the Federal Communications Commission by American Telephone and Telegraph Company suggest that the organization made some modifications in its services due to Apple`s rejection of Google Voice application. The changes desired by the organization were related to the security of its business and also wanted to block the traffic on its 3G network.

Even though in the past, network communication providers emphasized their right to look after their business and offered services in order to satisfy their customers, the banning actions they undertook in order to achieve their goals were also observed by former Federal Communications Commission chair, Mr. Kevin Martin. He also wanted to create a legislation to forbid these practices and also warned big organizations such as Comcast not to ban the normal traffic or manipulate its services in a manner that discriminated certain legal standards and rules.


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