Verizon Locks Out a Spectrum of Features

On Jan. 16th 2008, the FCC will start auctioning off the 700-MHz band that is expected to host the next generation of wireless services. But how many of those services will allow customers to use the features of the hardware they’ve already purchased, and how many will instead lock customers into using the service’s own proprietary features? It’s hard to predict, but you might want to look at an interesting pattern of gripes recently being generated by one of the likely bidders for the 700-MHz spectrum — Verizon Wireless.

(By the way, one thing I can predict is that the GripeLog is going to be a bit quiet until Labor Day, because I’m taking a short vacation. Keep those cards and letters coming in, though, because I’ll be ready for some serious griping when I get back.)

“I have been quite happy with the service quality I am getting with Verizon –my problem is with them locking the features of the hardware the users own,” wrote one reader. “I have a Motorola Razor phone. I purchased Motorola’s software so that I can manage my phone with my PC using a USB cable. I can access the phone book, calendar, etc., but Verizon blocks accessing pictures, music, and videos using the USB connection and the Motorola software. The only way to transfer your pictures is to pay Verizon $0.25 per picture and send them over their wireless network. Also, my PDA with GPS is having problems synching with Windows Vista and Lotus Notes that we use at the office. Instead of getting additional software, I decided to look into a Blackberry, specifically the 8830. The device has a built-in GPS receiver and Blackberry provides free maps for U.S., Canada, and most of Europe. I was ready to get one and sign a two-year contract with Verizon with a data plan and increased minutes. Luckily, I asked around. Verizon disables the GPS functionality on the device! The only way to use mapping is to subscribe Verizon’s mapping service. I think they should be ashamed of themselves!”

That reader notes that typically the only indication one can find of Verizon crippling a device’s features will be an asterisk with a footnote saying to check with your service provider to see what it actually supports. But another reader discovered that even when you do check with Verizon, they may not bother telling you the truth. “I bought an LG 5200 phone because I was told by the Verizon sales person that there was a cable available to transfer pictures from the phone to my computer after I told her I didn’t want to pay their ridiculous price for their transfer service,” the reader wrote. “I checked with several places and nobody sold such a cable. I finally found one that would generically connect the phone, but they had no idea how to get the pictures down loaded. So I called Verizon to ask for help downloading pictures. They shuffled me around for a while and after about the fourth day of calling them I finally got through to someone who told me that the phone was prevented from downloading pictures to my computer. So I asked them point blank, did the sales person lie to me when I was told that the phone could download the pictures via a cable? They never would say yes to that question, but they told me that the phone had been intentionally crippled to prevent the download of pictures. Of course, they kept pushing me to use their ‘service’ that costs $.25 per picture to send and oh yes, another $.25 to receive. No way. Next time I buy a product it won’t be on the basis of,.well, you can go get this necessary part somewhere else.”

Verizon representatives also aren’t above citing non-existent user agreements to explain why you can’t have what you think should have. “Recently someone broke into my car and, among other things, stole my cell phone,” wrote another reader. “I got a new phone through Verizon and decided to start re-downloading my games that I had bought and paid for on the old phone. As you can imagine, Verizon charged again me for the games. I called them and explained that I had already paid for the games and would like a refund. No go. Since it was a different phone, I would be charged again for the same games. The interesting thing is the Verizon rep claimed that when I had originally downloaded the games, I’d had to click OK to agree to those terms. For grins, after my conversation with her, I went back and downloaded another game just to make sure. Guess what? There is NO agreement.”

The Verizon feature lockout that seems to be causing the biggest stir, though, is the Blackberry 8830’s non-functional GPS. “I am very disappointed that Verizon would cripple the Blackberry 8830 by disabling the built-in GPS functionality,” wrote another reader. “I specifically bought this phone in order to use some third-party applications that would run if Verizon didn’t block the Blackberry’s UPS capabilities. And none of the Verizon staff and supervisors that I’ve talked to – in the store or on the phone – seemed to know anything about it. It was only after spending hours on hold that I finally got through to someone at Verizon who confirmed that they’ve crippled it. And they’re just doing it to force us to pay $10 a month for VZNavigator, which isn’t even available for my phone yet! I don’t know which is worse – the policy itself or their lack of candor in telling people about it.”

Notice the pattern? To be fair, though, it doesn’t sound like Verizon is the only wireless service locking out the features they’re selling to their customers. While doing the homework that tipped him off about the Blackberry issue, the first reader discovered a website posting purportedly from a Blackberry support rep stating that:

“The Blackberry 8830 smartphone as released by Verizon has had this ‘full’ GPS capability disabled at a software level. Verizon has indicated that they plan to release their own proprietary GPS mapping solution at a later time; possibly VZ Navigator. AT&T and T-Mobile have both taken similar routes with their 8800 series handhelds; locking out GPS access for 3rd party programs and only enabling access to the built-in receiver to the TeleNav program that they sell themselves.”

But the fact that all the wireless services seem fond of blocking the capabilities of customers’ hardware is hardly good news . After all, it just means that Verizon isn’t the only one of the likely bidders on Jan. 16 that will lock down the entire spectrum that they come away with. Will future users of the broadband services in the 700-MHz band find themselves having to pay a company like Verizon one little fee after another for everything they download from the Internet? The patterns suggest that you shouldn’t bet against it.

Are any of your “service” providers more interested in squeezing a few extra dimes out of you than actually providing service? Is so, tell us about it by posting your comments on my website or writing me at Foster@gripe2ed.com.

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