Why doesn't Apple just buy a piece of the wireless spectrum?

[Xtremeyouth1]

I wish Apple would use that estimated one billion dollars in cash that they have stockpiled to buy a piece of the mobile spectrum.

Then they could charge for data and cut out carriers completely....just integrate skype or google voice or even their own voip app.

That way they would have complete control over user experience (which we know they love). THAT would be revolutionary! It would send the carriers scrambling, I could have a $40/month data plan with texts and voip for calls.

WHO WOULDN"T WANT THAT?

Its almost what i'm doing already...I am on tmobile with a sidekick data plan and voip calls.

Sigh

 

[Entertainment72]

Apple just buy At&t, implement LTE and turn their weak infrastructure, service and 1000 other reasons into the viable juggernaut that can be.

MMS anyone..

 

[lionheartednyhc]

Why doesn't apple just buy the world and make it run better?

 

[The_strain]

God point they should buy the world and make it run better can you say Utopia?

 

[robbiebisme]

more like an Itopia...

 

[Tkvang]

Which would then kill innovation leaving us with an inferior product.

 

[Watcher]

Which would then kill innovation leaving us with an inferior product.

The world is an inferior product!

 

[Xtremeyouth1]

Ha, very funny guys. The point is couldn't Apple buy a piece of the wireless spectrum and cut out all the garbage from ATT.

It seems that whether it's AT&T or verizon or whoever that any carrier will freak over free texts, skype, google voice and the like.

Why couldn't Apple pull something like this off?

 

[sting7k]

I wish Apple would use that estimated one billion dollars in cash that they have stockpiled to buy a piece of the mobile spectrum.

Then they could charge for data and cut out carriers completely....just integrate skype or google voice or even their own voip app.

That way they would have complete control over user experience (which we know they love). THAT would be revolutionary! It would send the carriers scrambling, I could have a $40/month data plan with texts and voip for calls.

WHO WOULDN"T WANT THAT?

Its almost what i'm doing already...I am on tmobile with a sidekick data plan and voip calls.

Sigh

AT&T and Verizon paid far more than a billion for some of the former analog TV spectrum. And buying spectrum doesn't just give you an instant cellular data network. They would have to build towers and infrastructure, which would probably take years and years before even one market was turned on.

And why would you want to pay $40 for a data plan when it's only $30 right now?

 

[bubbatex]

Apple probably could not build out the top ten cities in the US with LTE for $1B from what I understand about the cost. People gripe and moan and b*tch about pricing, but building and maintaining a cellular network is not cheap. Far from it.....

 

[Entertainment72]

Just tell the government you are going to close shop and lose 100,000 jobs and you'll get 5 trillion to buy LTE, At&t, Verizon and McDonald's...

 

[dan_mtl]

I wish Apple would use that estimated one billion dollars in cash that they have stockpiled to buy a piece of the mobile spectrum.

Then they could charge for data and cut out carriers completely....just integrate skype or google voice or even their own voip app.

That way they would have complete control over user experience (which we know they love). THAT would be revolutionary! It would send the carriers scrambling, I could have a $40/month data plan with texts and voip for calls.

WHO WOULDN"T WANT THAT?

Its almost what i'm doing already...I am on tmobile with a sidekick data plan and voip calls.

Sigh

You make it all sound so simple. This would be extremely complex, and very costly. Why don't we just demand that carriers use a common wireless technology and let device makers build devices that are not tied to carriers.

 

[Xtremeyouth1]

Good idea

I can't wait for the carriers to become "dumb pipes" anyway. Just charge me for the amount of data I use.

 

[iPhones4life]

Yea ur rite Bubbatex it would be ******* expensive

 

[killingwthasmile]

It would be pretty interesting to see apple do something like this though.

 

[Xtremeyouth1]

I wonder if they could
buy data in chunks the way these smaller cell
carriers do and then in turn sell it off in chunks to
consumers. Is that too simplistic an understanding of how it works? Don't carriers like cellular one and othe local carriers just buy minutes or data in huge chunks, and then break it down to consumers?

Anyone know?

 

[CR4V3]

I can't wait for the carriers to become "dumb pipes" anyway. Just charge me for the amount of data I use.

This won't happen, the carriers won't let it happen and congress wouldn't let it happen. There's far too much money at stake for the carriers to allow themselves to become "dumb pipes", as much as we would all love for it to happen.

 

[The_strain]

We should make "Cellular Stores" Not branded companies. That sell ALL phones on a cellular "use" contract of 1 year. Meaning you will use that phone for one year. So the price can still be low but not as low as a 2 year and not as high as a off-contract. And make ALL cell towers GSM. ( It already has the most established system) Then whenever you go onto different towers that person gets money. And make it to where anyone can own one but businesses will own the most. And so you make a payment at the end of the month for just what you use. And make all prices the same. So thus roaming is eliminated. Like For your first bill 3 cents a minute. Then if you use ALLOT of minutes make it cheaper. If you use a few minutes keep it the same. And then you do the same for data. With optional plans for unlimited everything at around 100. Thats my idea.... =)