A Stanford University professor has filed a letter with the Federal Communications Commission urging it to investigate Verizon Wireless’s blocking of Google Wallet on its new smartphone.
Barbara van Schewick, a professor of law and electrical engineering, said in the letter dated Dec. 19 that Verizon had violated “open-devices and open-applications conditions in its legal licenses” for part of the spectrum over which its LTE network operates. These conditions forbid the mobile company from blocking applications or devices.
Van Schewick asked the FCC to “investigate the situation as quickly as possible and to send a signal to the market” that “openness conditions will be enforced.” Verizon’s actions hurt consumers, competition and innovation, she said.
Free Press, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization whose mission is “to reform the media,” on Dec. 13 also filed an official objection to the FCC, accusing the telecommunication company of breaking FCC rules and harming innovation (
In her complaint, Van Schewick also noted that Verizon “has an incentive to undermine competition in mobile payments and to eliminate any competitor’s first-mover advantage.”
Verizon has partnered with other mobile providers to launch a competing payment service called Isis (
Verizon’s new Galaxy Nexus phone went on sale on Dec. 15. To block Google Wallet, Verizon is making it impossible for the mobile-payment application to access the “secure element” in its smartphone, van Schewick said. A user’s credit card information is stored on this chip separate from the phone’s operating system and hardware.
Van Schewick has previously written to the FCC about Verizon. In June, she filed a letter asking the commission to investigate Verizon’s blocking of tethering applications for public comment.
