As they rule the cellular communications world, so do AT&T and Verizon rule the mobile broadband arena. Their competitive advantage here is control over backhaul and core networks. They levy special access charges on smaller carriers for access to these, which the smaller carriers are dubbing unreasonable. The matter has become a bigger deal now, with Sprint, T-Mobile, and others banding together to lobby the FCC and the president to do something about these charges.
Of course, Verizon and AT&T think they’re perfectly right in making these charges, since the market is “highly competitive.” Of course, they always say this when they’re overcharging some entity or another, whether it be another business or consumers. Competition is always high, at least for the big carriers. That’s the way it’s always been, and that’s the way it’s always going to be. It’s like their trump card.
While the telecom lobby tends to favor the big carriers, Sprint, T-Mobile, Clearwire, Covad, and other carriers have banded together. While their lobbying power doesn’t equal that of the bigger carriers, banding together is the only real solution at this point.
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