back to article Big Phone to US: 'Give us spectrum. Then shut up'

The US may be number one in wireless broadband, but to stay on top it needs more spectrum and less regulation. That's the opinion of a pair of AT&T execs speaking Tuesday at the CTIA Wireless 2010 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Wireless, was unabashed in his assertion that the US is the top …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    But AT&T 3G is Terrible!

    No sign of an apology for how bad AT&T's 3G is then?

    Pity they didn't invest their iPhone profits in building out a decent 3G network...........

  2. Version 1.0 Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    US dominance?

    What's he smoking?

    There may be a lot of customers downloading farts but we're still stuck here with phones released in Europe becoming available a year later in the US and vendor data plans that cost $70-$100 per month ... when you can get a connection. Mobile phones service in the US sucks - I drive from the office into town on the Interstate and I can guarantee that I'll lose the call at the I-12/I-10 junction ... it's been that way for years.

  3. David Webb

    I see!

    "crowd that the US has 117 million 3G subscribers, edging out number-two Japan's 110 million"

    Indeed, but the US population is 307 million, Japans population is 127 million. As a percentage then, the US is around 35%? Japan is at almost 100%. Sure, it's easy for him to say "we have 7 million more 3G users than Japan" but by penetration, Japan are way ahead.

    Tell him to come back when around 280 million Americans have 3G (although by then, Japan will probably be 100% 5G!)

  4. LaeMing
    Flame

    "greatest hope for global leadership"

    Oh, come on! The US is still squabbling internally about whether it should provide all its own people with basic health care of third-world standards. Then again, Aust. Govts (all of them) have been drooling over the hope of getting a more US-like system so they could gouge the saved healthcare money into their own slush finds for decades, so I guess that does represent US leadership in a way.

    Back on topic: "Regulation might scare away investors". Where as non-regulation will swallow up their money like it did in the banking sector. That was a real great experience for everyone. Yeah.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Corrected translation

    "CEO Randall Stephenson, speaking after de la Vega, offered the thoroughly unsurprising opinion that the spectrum release should be "unencumbered by regulation.""

    Let us f@#k everyone in the a$$ and take all of the money and no one gets hurt. Oh and don't expect us to produce anything of value for all of the money we pillage out of your pockets.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    It's all Green

    'PC Magazine also reported that AT&T's chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson, speaking after de la Vega, offered the thoroughly unsurprising opinion that the spectrum release should be "unencumbered by regulation."'

    Oh, Randall, you mean like "Free Range Spectrum", not that artificially grown stuff that can live without Royalty Payments ...

    Mine's the one with the Ultraviolet Catastrophe in the pocket ...

  7. twelvebore
    FAIL

    Newsflash

    In other news, foxes have called for de-regulation of access to the chicken coup.

  8. blackworx
    Boffin

    US Dominance? Bollocks.

    USA population 307m

    Japan population 128m

    So, by their own figures...

    USA market penetration 38%

    Japan market penetration 86%

    Mind you, 110m 3G subscribers out of a population of 128m seems a bit high. Do Japanese kids get compulsory 3G for their 5th birthday these days?

  9. Rob W 2
    Boffin

    Japanese cellphone figures

    One thing that could account for the absurdly high figures is that the fact that many people in Japan including myself carry around two or more cellphones with them at any given time. Also, a significant portion of elementary school students do have cellphones, of which most are likely 3G (although I don't have any numbers to back this statement up with).

  10. Trevor Pott o_O Gold badge

    Deregulation

    The only way to ensure US economic dominance is to deregulate the banking industry!

    The only way to provide for California's future power needs is to deregulate the power industry!

    The only way for US industry to be globally competitive is to deregulate H1B Visas!

    *sob*

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Yeah, but they aim for 100% penetration

    Ok, you know where this is going.

  12. JB
    WTF?

    Rubbish!

    These idiots are just talking up potential investment. Anybody outside the circle knows that the US is so backward when it comes to mobile broadband: crappy phones, expensive data plans, even voice plans are archaic (what other developed country still charges you to receive calls?)

    When AT&T and others get less greedy and give us a more European model (yeah, right!) they may well pile on users!

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