Net neutrality, Verizon iPhones on Sprint

The Federal Communications Commission adopted this week new rules intended to protect consumers from nefarious broadband providers who hereafter may monkey with rivals' network traffic to boost usage of their own services.

I as well break the bad news to another reader that he will not be able to use a VerizoniPhone, when it's in the end released, on Sprint Nextel's network. And when all is said and done, I advise another reader to buy a new prepaid phone for her father.

Ask Maggie is a weekly advice column that answers readers' questions about issues related to wireless and broadband. If you've got a question, please send me an e-mail, at maggie dot reardon at cbs dot com. And please put "Ask Maggie" in the subject header.

In a nutshell, the purpose of the rules is to make sure fixed-broadband and wireless-broadband service providers do not favor their own traffic and services over a competitors' traffic and services.

Though the FCC set out to draft a simple set of Internet "rules of the road," what it ended up with is a somewhat complex set of regulations in a 194-page document. What makes the rules confusing from a consumer's point of view is the fact that they apply differently to services and applications on fixed-broadband networks versus wireless networks.

In other words, partly, though the applications may be specifically the same, they could be treated differently on a fixed-broadband connection versus wireless.

The examples you chose are good ones for instance how the application of these rules may differ depending on which network is used.

The case of Skype

In the case of Skype, neither your fixed-broadband provider nor your wireless-phone carrier will be able to block Skype or services like Skype. Skype is a voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, application that uses a broadband Internet connection to let consumers make free or low-cost phone calls over the Net. During fixed-broadband providers haven't done anything in the past to exactly block or degrade Skype traffic on their networks, wireless-service providers have resisted Skype and other VoIP applications.

For example, in early 2009, an AT&T executive told USA Today that his company has the right to prevent Skype from being used on the iPhone and other smartphones because Skype is a service that competes with AT&T's voice service. AT&T in the long run relented and said it would support VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services starting in October 2009. Now there was as well a dustup over the use of Google Voice on the iPhone. AT&T and Apple were pointing the finger at each other to explain why the application wasn't being approved for the iPhone's App Store. Google Voice appeared in the App Store only last month.

The FCC looked into both of these matters

The FCC looked into both of these matters. And in the new rules it adopted, sided with Skype and other VoIP providers, exactly stating that mobile wireless providers can't block "applications that compete with the provider's" own voice or video telephony services.

The situation is slightly different for Netflix. According to the new FCC rules, Netflix could be treated differently by the broadband provider depending on whether a fixed or wireless connection is used.

Fixed network

On a fixed network, the Net neutrality rules protect all legal streaming video services, just as Netflix--broadband providers are prohibited from blocking or degrading these services. Fixed-broadband providers are as well prohibited from unreasonable traffic discrimination on their networks. So again, the Netflix service is protected.

This isn't the case on a wireless network. For one, the nondiscrimination clause doesn't apply to wireless broadband networks at all. And two, the way I understand these rules, wireless operators are prohibited only from blocking voice and video telephony services. Netflix is a video service, however it's not a video chat service. To sum up, a carrier could refuse to allow such a service or application on its network.

The FCC made a clear distinction in its rules between fixed-broadband and wireless networks. It said it recognized that the two types of networks are different and that wireless networks are more constrained in terms of bandwidth. Permanently, pursuant to this agreement the new rules, a narrower set of applications is offered protection on wireless networks.

Wireless operators have already banned certain streaming video services from their networks. Apple offers a Netflix app for the iPhone andiPad in its App Store, nevertheless for several months it refused to allow the Slingbox service into the store. Slingbox redirects broadcast TV signals onto the Internet. In the end, Slingbox worked with AT&T, and Apple and came up with a mobile app for the iPhone that both Apple and AT&T found acceptable.

Though AT&T and other wireless operators allow Slingbox and Netflix applications on their networks today, there's nothing in the FCC rules that could stop them from refusing to offer these streaming video services tomorrow.

The meanwhile

In the meanwhile, Congress may step in to clarify the FCC's authority. Now that would as well be a lengthy process. The agency has as well not closed the door utterly on reclassifying broadband networks so that some traditional telephony regulations apply.

Dear Maggie,If Verizon does get the iPhone, will I be able to use it on Sprint because both Sprint and Verizon are CDMA networks?

Dear Trey,I responded to a similar question a couple of weeks ago. The short answer is no. When the iPhone in the long run comes to Verizon Wireless, it will work only on Verizon's network. You're correct that Verizon and Sprint Nextel are both CDMA carriers, now Verizon CDMA phones can't be used on Sprint's network, and vice versa.

The AT&T iPhone can be unlocked

It is confusing because the AT&T iPhone can be unlocked and used on a different GSM network. The reason this can be done on a GSM network is because these phones use SIM cards. The SIM provides the service from a particular carrier, and when you want to use a different carrier you can simply swap out the card on an unlocked phone and replace it with a SIM card from a different carrier.

Unfortunately, CDMA phones don't use SIM cards. Instead, though they use the same cellular innovation, the phones used on these networks are programmed for that specific network.

So the only way to use the cellular radio on an iPhone on the Sprint network is if Sprint strikes a deal to offer the iPhone.

Dear Maggie,I bought my father an AT&T GoPhone prepaid phone three years ago for Christmas. He doesn't use the phone often, so I can put $100 worth of service on the phone for him and it lasts him practically the whole year. He is very pleased with the service and would like to continue using it. Nevertheless now he is having problems with his phone. The "6" isn't working anymore. I want to get him a new phone this year for Christmas, yet he wants to keep his existing GoPhone number. Can I buy him a new phone for the prepaid service without losing his number? And how can I transfer all his contacts from the old phone to the new phone?

Dear Michelle,You're in luck. Getting your dad a new phone for his prepaid service is easy. Because AT&T is a GSM carrier that uses SIM cards, you can put his GoPhone SIM card in any AT&T phone, and his existing prepaid account--including the phone number and minutes on that account--should be activated.

If all you need is another basic phone, I'd suggest getting another GoPhone. You could get him any AT&T phone, nevertheless because he isn't signing a two-year contract with AT&T, he will have to pay full retail price for the phone. The GoPhones are more often than not priced very inexpensively: $50 and less for the most basic devices. Phones offered as part of a two-year contract are as a rule priced at $100 or more retail.

The new phone

As for transferring his contacts to the new phone, this process is as well very easy. The reason is simple: contacts can be stored on the SIM card, which means all he has to do is swap out the new SIM card and replace it with the SIM from the old phone, and his contacts should be accessible. If his address book and contacts are already saved to his SIM card, this is a piece of cake. If the contacts are not already saved on the SIM, it's easy to go into the setting menu and copy them to the SIM card.

Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as then as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies.

The telecom beat for more than a decade

Marguerite Reardon has been covering the telecom beat for more than a decade and knows more about wireless and IP networking than she cares to admit. She has been a senior writer for CNET News since 2003, covering all things wireless and broadband related from iPhone launches to major telephone company mergers to IPTV developments. She often appears as an expert on news networks, including CNBC, MSNBC, NPR, and the BBC. Maggie loves visiting CNET's headquarters in San Francisco, now she's an East Coaster basically, living and working in Manhattan.

It may be Zuckerberg's 'Time' stateside, now across the pond venerable British biz pub the FT likes Apple's CEO this year around.

In part three of a behind-the-scenes look at the development of Microsoft's new phone software, Ina Fried takes a look at Redmond's massive testing operation.

For decades, the defense group has let you follow the Christmas Eve travels of the jolly old elf. These days, research is playing a bigger role than ever.