The beginning of July 2007 held two things which caught my attention and may prove to be an interesting milestone in the road towards open access.  The first was big-scale.  Last week Mr Kevin Martin, the chairman of the US regulator, the FCC, came out and told a US newspaper what he has in mind for the 700 MHz spectrum auction in late 2008.  He talked about an 'open network' which would permit any wireless device to connect to it, and which would place no limits on the services that could be offered across it or by whom.  In other words, it seems he wants a pure mobile web, where customers can download any broadband application, and have no restrictions on the content that is served or on the devices that would be deployed by end users to access them.  It sounds to me like a flat rate, open IP architecture where devices will need only the most cursory adherence to the air interface, but where applications are pure IP, and most services are delivered over the web. Indeed, as one commentator has said, "It sounds like the halcyon days of the Personal Computer, where just about anyone could write an application." 
 
If Chairman Martin gets his way, this will spark the beginning of the end of the cellular walled garden as we know it, and offer a form of wireless network neutrality -  at least in this slither of spectrum.  He made passing reference to the idea that no downloadable software should be illegal, or should be able to harm the network, but apart from that hinted that there would be no restrictions allowed by the operator on applications – a far cry from the recently launched Apple iPhone, which is locked onto the closed AT&T network!
...