@jbtaylor on tech

This morning in San Diego, Julius Genachowski, the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission addressed attendees at the International CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment Show. His remarks are important and worth a close reading. 

In reaction, Vonya B. McCann, our senior vice president of government affairs, said the following:

Sprint Nextel shares with FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski the view that American business and consumers benefit from the deployment of 4G mobile broadband networks. At Sprint, we are proud to be the first and only nationwide wireless carrier to offer 4G in the United States. For Sprint customers, 4G isn’t the future, 4G is here now. Sprint 4G is available in 16 markets today and we expect to offer Sprint 4G service to over 120 million people in 80 markets by the end of 2010.

Sprint is particularly pleased that the Chairman recognizes that the wireless industry depends upon affordable, high capacity middle mile lines. Sprint has long held in proceedings before the FCC that the market for these special access lines is broken and must be fixed. We look forward to working with the FCC to resolve this issue as we believe leaving this matter unresolved is harmful to the country’s broadband economy.

Lastly, Sprint is pleased that the Chairman recognized that there are real and relevant differences between operating wired and wireless networks. Sprint wants customers to be able to access the applications and the Internet sites they want, when they want.  We look forward to working with Chairman Genachowski and the FCC as they create policies that meet the expectations of consumers, continue innovation in device development, and preserve the ability of carriers to manage networks in a reasonable and responsible manner.