Democrats Rip into Wireless Carrier Practices

The Senate Commerce committee yesterday held a hearing about consumer wireless issues. Democrats complained about dropped calls, censorship and deceptive bills, while calling for stronger regulation of the industry. Republicans maintained that a lighter regulatory touch would prove more effective.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, a Democrat from North Dakota, even called for net neutrality laws citing locked phones and limited software availability as evidence of a need for more regulation. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat from West Virginia, claimed that "in the last few years, traditional and wireless carriers have concocted a number of line item charges, fees and surcharges."

Here at the MobilePhoneBlog, we are generally against government involvement with private business but the issues the Democrats bring up are worth thinking about for sure. No one I know likes locked phones and being told what software they can run on their devices.

For more on the hearing, read this write-up from eWeek.