Apple, AT& T Questioned About Google Voice Application

Source: Washington Post

Friday, July 31, 2009; 10:09 PM

The Federal Communications Commission on Friday launched inquiries of Apple and AT&T for denying iPhone users access to Google's voice application, another sign of the administration's heightened scrutiny of competition in the high-tech and telecommunications sectors.

In letters to Apple and AT&T, the FCC asked the companies to explain why Google's voice application was rejected from the cell phone and removed from Apple's iPhone applications store. The agency also asked AT&T, the exclusive service provider for the iPhone, what role it may have had in making that decision.

The FCC "has a mission to foster a competitive wireless marketplace, protect and empower consumers, and promote innovation and investment," Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement about the inquiries. "Recent news reports raise questions about practices in the mobile marketplace."

The letters, which are not formal investigations, come as the agency conducts separate reviews of the overall competitiveness of the wireless industry. The FCC is looking into the exclusive partnerships between carriers and cellphone makers, such as the relationship between Sprint Nextel and Palm, for example.


Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/31/AR2009073103917.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Maybe it's because I haven't connected it to my computer lately?

so it cant be purchased again

'another sign of the administration's heightened scrutiny of competition in the high-tech and telecommunications sectors.'

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