Regulatory

Technology Neutrality and the Free Market
4G Americas advocates a technologically neutral licensing process that allows the marketplace to decide on technology solutions appropriate for local and regional market conditions. It recognizes that wireless network evolution in the Americas features open market competition among competing technologies, freeing market forces to offer the consumer a higher level of technology choices to meet his or her wireless communications needs. This approach has resulted in a higher degree of competition among wireless providers in the Americas and a consequential expansion of services at reasonable costs to wireless consumers, many of whom are acquiring their first personal telephone through the mobile wireless technology.
  
US Policy Considerations
4G Americas monitors and contributes to a number of policy considerations for mobile services at agencies within the United States government that affect telecommunications decisions. Often times, 4G Americas contributes white papers, filings, or position documents are contributed to provide technical and marketplace information to regulatory bodies and agencies. 
 
One important area of recent interest is the use of emergency notifications via mobile devices. In April 2009, 3G Americas carefully documented its position on Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) for 9-1-1 emergency communications with the conclusions that:
  • To overcome technical and policy hurdles, it is important that the industry, the industry associations, and Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) community work together, such as in the creation of the Wireless Priority Service (WPS) and the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS)
  • The public is educated that SMS/MMS will not work for emergency services
  • A secure, trusted and reliable messaging to 9-1-1 solution is developed for the next generation of wireless networks, via the appropriate standards groups that will meet general public and public safety expectations.