Google accuses Verizon of weaseling out of its 700 MHz requirements

Prior to the start of the biggest wireless spectrum auction in US history, Google took credit for convincing the FCC to impose an open access rule for the winning bidder. Now the company is urging the Commission to enforce that rule.

A petition filed by Google last Friday with the US Federal Communications Commission (PDF available here) urges the agency to write a specific order requiring Verizon Wireless, as the runaway victor in its 700 MHz C block auction, to comply with FCC guidelines mandating that it provide customers with unlocked and open equipment for use with services in that spectrum.

Statements made by Verizon Wireless representatives last October indicated that the company had plans to offer customers their choice of unlocked or locked equipment, under what has since been characterized as its "two-door" plan. In that plan, "Door #1" would lead to traditional VZW service over partly subsidized phones or other equipment, where "Door #2" would be an alternative plan where the customer can bring her own equipment to the table -- what FCC Chairman Kevin Martin calls a "cart-a-phone" plan.

"The Commission's open access rule is clear that C Block licensees 'shall not deny, limit, or restrict the ability of their customers to use the devices and applications of their choice,"' cites Google's FCC petition. "The rule also is explicit that C Block licensees may not 'disable features on handsets it provides to customers.' The rule thus plainly proscribes a C Block licensee from selling handsets to customers that hinder a customer's ability to use applications of their choice, and applies to all customers of a C Block licensee."

Elsewhere in the petition, Google alleges that by not having revised its stated plan from last October, Verizon Wireless is quietly moving ahead with its plan to offer ordinary "locked" phones while offering service to "unlocked" phones as an alternative.

But in a statement this afternoon to BetaNews, Verizon Wireless spokesperson Jeffrey Nelson said his company already has plans to make a statement to the FCC regarding this matter, and those plans should show it means to comply with the agency's rules.

"Some will find this Google filing just strange, but it's really no surprise that despite not winning spectrum, Google continues to try to change the rules to further its business interests through the regulatory process," Nelson told BetaNews. "Their filing has no legal basis. We expect to file at the Federal Communications Commission within the next several days on this matter and will address it through that channel.

"We -- and all the other participants in the recent 700 MHz spectrum auction -- knew the rules for using that spectrum in advance. Of course we'll abide by those rules," he added.

In its Second Report and Order regarding its rules for the auction, released last August (PDF available here), the following rule appears: "Scope of the requirement for open platforms for devices and applications. Wireless service providers subject to this requirement will not be allowed to disable features or functionality in handsets where such action is not related to reasonable network management and protection, or compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.

For example, providers may not 'lock" handsets to prevent their transfer from one system to another. We also prohibit standards that block Wi-Fi access, MP3 playback ringtone capability, or other services that compete with wireless service providers' own offerings. Standards for third-party applications or devices that are more stringent than those used by the provider itself would likewise be prohibited. In addition, C Block licensees cannot exclude applications or devices solely on the basis that such applications or devices would unreasonably increase bandwidth demands."

That rule, incidentally, immediately follows a paragraph that reads: "We reject Verizon Wireless' arguments that we are setting aside this spectrum as a 'pioneer's preference block,' or providing a special bidding credit to new entrants in the upcoming auction for this spectrum. Our imposition of requirements for open platforms for devices and applications is intended not to benefit particular companies, but consumers, who will have the freedom of using any device or application they choose, subject to certain conditions."

As Google told the FCC, "Verizon is not free to self-define the rule to exclude any and all Verizon devices. Such a re-write of the C Block condition would result in Verizon's 'two-door' exception swallowing the rule and eviscerating the consumer benefits of the condition, since it almost surely will be the case that Verizon will be the predominant device distributor on its own C Block network. The Commission must ensure that Verizon understands that this license obligation means what it says: Any Apps, Any Devices."