The United States’ Federal Communications Commission has launched an investigation into the whole debacle over Apple’s rejection of a piece of software which allows users to use the Google Voice service from the iPhone. Apple’s grounds for the application’s removal were that it duplicates existing functionality, ie that the iPhone is already capable of making calls.
The FCC’s investigation is almost certainly not into the legality of Apple’s policies, but rather into the whole smartphone ecosystem that has cropped up in the past few years. And it’s not like we didn’t see FCC involvement coming. One of concerns the FCC is expressing is that users in rural areas often do not have access to the latest devices, largely because the new SuperPhone 9000 is only available on some big name carrier which has terrible coverage in that area.
So don’t expect the FCC to force Apple to allow applications onto the iPhone. The FCC is merely gathering information at the moment. With that in mind, I would be surprised if the government doesn’t take some sort of action within the year.
(Info via Dow Jones)
