Should We Socialize WIreless Service in the U.S.?

Wireless service in the U.S. stinks. Compared to what? Compared to your land line phone, that's what. I subscribe to the service that I'm repeatedly told is the best in the D.C. area, but it drops calls, fails to connect, goes in and out, and is often hard to hear. None of that ever happens with my land line. It's convenient, of course, to be able to take your phone with you, and the phone works more often than not, but it'd be even better if cell phones were more dependable and way better if I didn't have to hear fellow subway riders screaming into their phones every day (in the hope that adding 20 decibels will help improve the discussion!). And it's not as if cell phone service is new. We've had it for years, and it's still bad.

Why is service so bad? In this piece, Joshua Topolsky says it's because private providers compete in the same service areas, slicing up bandwith in a way that disserves consumers and undermines call quality. He draws an analogy to a hypothetical system of private roadways (which, in fact, are largely socialized):

Imagine you’re headed out of town for the weekend in your new Prius. If you don’t own a Prius, don’t worry — this is an alternate reality. You’re leaving Maryland for New York City and looking forward to a leisurely afternoon drive. But there’s a snag — a big one. A small group of private companies actually owns the roads, and they want you to follow their rules — so you can’t get to New York unless you drive a sport-utility vehicle. To get on Interstate 95 north, you’ve got to have an Escalade or an Explorer. On the other hand, the company that owns the roads around Washington allows only green cars, so those big SUVs have no way of getting from New York to vast swaths of Maryland. Oh, there are also towns that neither type of car can drive to because no one has built any roads there yet. Sorry! That’s just how someone decided to make the transportation network work. Sounds crazy, right? Well, I’ve just described the current state of the U.S. wireless phone business.

Topolosky's solution: Socialize wireless service.

Comments

[dean1000]

Good idea but it doesn't seem like socialism or even socialization.
Phone companies exist to provide phone service, not to make a profit.
There is no demand for the monopolistic crap and poor service we get from the cell companies.
My vain hope is that T-Mobile becomes an employee owned company ( no stock) that will hook up any cell phone & give the for profits a run for the money.