5 Reasons Why AT&T Is Pushing FCC To Look At Google Voice
Google attorney Richard Whitt, its Washington Telecom and Media Counsel, has lashed out at AT&T for the pressure in a blog post last Friday titled "Sex, Conference Calls And Outdated FCC Rules."
"Last month AT&T complained to the FCC about our policy of restricting outbound Google Voice calls to phone numbers in a small number of 'rural' areas, just as other Internet applications do," wrote Whitt. "The reason we restrict calls to certain local phone carriers' numbers is simple. Not only do they charge exorbitant termination rates for calls, but they also partner with adult sex chat lines and 'free' conference calling centers to drive high volumes of traffic. This practice has been called 'access stimulation' or 'traffic pumping' (clearly by someone with a sense of humor). Google Voice is a free application and we want to keep it that way for all our users -- which we could not afford to do if we paid these ludicrously high charges."
"AT&T apparently now wants Web applications -- from Skype to Google Voice -- to be treated the same way as traditional phone services," complained Whitt. "Their approach is what a former FCC chairman has called 'regulatory capitalism,' the practice of using regulation to block or slow down innovation. And despite AT&T's lobbying efforts, this issue has nothing to do with network neutrality or rural America. This is about outdated carrier compensation rules that are fundamentally broken and in need of repair by the FCC."
Here are five reasons why we believe AT&T is pushing the FCC to put the heat on Google.
1. Google Is The Biggest Threat AT&T Faces In The Phone Market
AT&T fears Google more than life itself. Google has already made mincemeat out of Microsoft in the online marketplace, and Microsoft is the biggest, most feared and most powerful company of the 20th century.
AT&T, which was broken up as a monopoly telecommunications power in the mid-80s, fears that Google with Google Voice will run AT&T's lucrative phone business into oblivion.
AT&T is smart to fear Google Voice. Everything is moving to the Internet. The old landline phone is as dead as a doornail. AT&T sees Google Voice as possibly leading to the downfall of the AT&T empire.
2. Google's Android Mobile Phone Offering Is Giving AT&T Fits
AT&T, the exclusive wireless carrier for Apple's iPhone, knows that Google's Android mobile phone offering is a big threat to the Apple iPhone. That iPhone deal is money in AT&T's pocket. And it sees it being threatened by Google Android.
It's no small matter that the AT&T exclusive deal to provide the iPhone service in the U.S. expires next year. The Apple iPhone is the old wave. Google Voice is the new wave.
The Android offering was enough to get the Federal Trade Commission's notice. And it caused Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt to resign from the Apple board and Apple board member Arthur Levinson to resign from the Google board.
Google is setting its sights on every major Internet-based market. Search engine dominance is just the beginning. Google wants to be the dominant Software as a Service (SaaS) provider with Google Docs and the dominant phone company with Google Voice.
If it's Internet-based, Google wants to offer it free and sell ads around that free offering.
3. AT&T Is Hoping To Slow Down Google Innovation By Getting Google Tied Up In FCC Strings
No one understands the federal government bureaucracy better than AT&T. The company has been dealing with the twists and turns of federal government regulation since the '50s and was the subject of a federal antitrust breakup in the '80s.
AT&T knows how to navigate the federal bureaucracy. And it knows it can tie Google up in endless rules and regulations that will slow down Google Voice.
Google's Whitt is right. AT&T is engaged in "regulatory capitalism." It's a great strategy. And there's a good chance it's going to work.
4. AT&T Is All About Monthly Fees, Google Is Free
AT&T's strategy is to get consumers to pay monthly fees for phone service. Google's strategy is to offer the service free and then make it up with online ads that surround that free offering.
Google is all about offering free services or mostly free services that capture the imagination and fingertips and eyeballs millions of Internet users. That's just what Google intends to do with Google Voice.
AT&T knows that if Google Voice catches on, then AT&T is in big, big trouble. Microsoft is watching its high-margin Microsoft Office productivity suite dominance disappear right before its eyes because of Google Docs. AT&T is next.
Take Google Voice, combine it with the Google Android mobile phone environment, and suddenly AT&T doesn't look so invincible.
5. Google Is More Innovative Than AT&T
That's right. The No. 1 reason AT&T is pushing the FCC to regulate Google Voice is Google has some pretty smart guys who are putting the heat on AT&T.
You can say a lot of things about Google. But you can't say they don't make compelling technology products.
All you need to do is take a close look at what Google Voice aims to do for phone users and you come away thinking, "Wow! That's really cool! I want it!"
Google Voice lets you have one phone number for all your calls and SMS. It has voice mail with transcripts (How cool is that for long business messages that you'd love to capture for a memo?) And it's all free. Free calls. Free conference calls. Free voice mail. What's not to love?
AT&T had better get the FCC to put the heat on Google. If it doesn't, AT&T will soon be looking like a telecom dinosaur.