CTIA – The Wireless Association (Cellular Telephone Industries Association)
Ex Parte Letter; “Preserving the Open Internet” / Updating Assumptions: Reviewing Tim Wu’s Wireless Net Neutrality Working Paper Three Years Later
February 5, 2010

In February 2007, Columbia University professor Tim Wu penned a paper for the New America Foundation that predicted what CTIA described as a “dark vision” for the wireless industry if the FCC did not impose regulations on the industry. But this month, CTIA presented to FCC Secretary Marlen Dortch a letter and working paper that refute Wu’s analysis.

Today’s U.S. wireless reality is a vitalized landscape that features more than 600 devices “offering hundreds of different capabilities for consumers, over 170,000 applications, more open networks with open developer initiatives and software development kits, the sale of phones through numerous online and retail outlets, multiple operating systems, and the launch of the newest and most innovative handsets first in the United States,” CTIA concluded.

Here are the key counter arguments that CTIA made to Wu:

• His claim that carriers had a “near lock” on mobile-device sales is inaccurate. Handsets are available online, at brick-and-mortar retailers, directly from manufacturers and in secondary markets.
• Wu claimed that American companies restricted the available phones in the U.S. market. But CTIA’s data says the market currently has more than 630 devices manufactured by 33 different companies. It also notes that the most popular phones in all markets were launched in the United States first.
• Wu claimed the application market was dead. But CTIA says more than 170,000 applications are currently available for various operating systems.
• Wu argued that carriers controlled handset design, limiting the openness of the platforms. But CTIA noted that today there are extensive open networks and intra-industry groups like the Open Handset Alliance that developed the Android operating system.
• Wu claimed that technologies like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi were “crippled” by carriers. But all the technologies are readily available today in almost all phones, and consumers can pick from a diverse market.

The letter and working paper are available in full here.