The Misguided Urge to Regulate Wireless

[Commentary] Federal regulators have been asked to investigate wireless carriers' exclusive handset deals. But calls for regulation are perverse. These products are precisely the disruptive technologies that policymakers should herald. Yes, we need to investigate them—to figure out how to encourage more of the same. Customers are not hostage to subsidized handsets or to the two-year contracts typically attached. All U.S. networks offer prepaid cards at 10¢ or 20¢ per minute, allowing customers to bring their own phones. The flexibility isn't free: Contracts pencil out to about 5¢ per minute. This "volume discount" rewards users who commit to supporting the network—those $50 billion-and-up megastructures of spectrum, fiber, real estate, base stations, and millions of mobile radios. In this deep recession it is curious that iconic innovations demonstrating robust growth are inspiring regulatory attention. In truth, the key policy issues here involve little more than how to control crowds on iPhone model release days and how to discipline State Dept. officials whose "Crackberry" habits disrupt high-level government meetings. When Washington turns its regulatory gaze on the very killer apps we should be celebrating, we've found what needs fixing.