Verizon's Opening of Network

Vogateer · Post by **Vogateer** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:34 pm

Any opinions on this?
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2222863,00.asp
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yomol9

Sounds great. Of course I'll wait for actions to speak more loudly than words before I become excited, but it sounds like they actually understand that this openness thing is good for business.

elgordo123 · Post by **elgordo123** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 2:49 pm

I hope that they dont screw this up. My opinion is they are doing this 100% because they know when/if google gets into the game they will either be forced to do it anyway or lose a lot of customers. I think you'll see other carriers do something like this too. I'd love to see openmoko or other future opensource and high end phones on EVDO.

snarkout · Post by **snarkout** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 12:37 pm

I'm very skeptical of the assertions made by the article - no carrier is just going to "open" their network. Sure, they might have contracts with device manufacturers like the Kindle, allowing them to use their network for transport, but that's a far cry from "open" IMO. Cellular coverage will never be like a free local wireless network is my guess - way, way too much risk for nearly nothing in return. All I see here is that verizon and other carriers have realized that there is a market for devices that don't need a carrier contract, but do need access - that cost will be passed on in some way or another, though. The kindle is useless w/o the services they deliver, as far as I can tell. To me, this just looks like companies making transport agreements with other companies - nothing "open" to see here. The only thing that's changing is that the transport fees with be hidden from the end users.

Or am I completely wrong?

Vogateer · Post by **Vogateer** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 12:43 pm

I heard about this on the radio, and they didn't have some guy from Verizon, it was some other analyst. They were talking about opening up to a bunch of devices, with silly things like letting you call home to get your coffee maker started. It doesn't sound like it will be "open" in the sense most of us here use the word, though it sounds like it could be an improvement upon the current situation.

It sounds like they will require some sort of "certification" or approval, though that approval should be much easier to get, compared to the process as it is now.

But yeah, I agree with anyone who's skeptical of this, and I'm simply in my "wait and see" mode on this whole issue.