In the spotlight: Skype’s Libertelli

Christopher Libertelli doesn’t think he’s tilting at windmills. The senior director for government at Skype genuinely believes he can do for the mobile phone industry what a man named Tom Carter did for the wireline industry back in 1968. That’s when the Federal Communications Commission decided, in its Carterphone ruling, that it made sense to have an open and defined interface to the phone network, now commonly known as an RJ-11 jack, and allow other companies to compete with the local phone company in making telephones and other devices. In the petition he filed earlier this year with the FCC, Libertelli asked that the Carterphone decision be applied to the cellular network. Libertelli spoke with Editor-at-Large Carol Wilson recently at the VON show in San Jose.

On the parallels with Carterphone: At the level of policy changes the FC is going through now, the parallels are almost exact. They decided in Carterphone that attachments that don’t harm the network are good for consumers. You could have an explosion of choices in wireless networks the way we had an explosion of choices after the Carterphone decision. Even though there is some level of facilities-based competition, you essentially have four companies that control wireless devices in the U.S. Because of consolidation at the service provider level, the device manufacturers have to chase many fewer potential outlets. For example, Nokia has 50 versions of smart phones – four made it to America. Our view is we can do better, and it’s for consumers to decide.

On the potential impact of an FCC ruling: We knew in 1968 that we were going to get choices, what we didn’t know was what would those choices look like. And we don’t know now what services and applications might hit the market. We know that if you recreate a standardized interface – the wireless equivalent of an RJ-11 jack – companies could build to basic specs.

On the technical challenges to making this work in the cellular world: There are complexities. Spectrum is shared, there are different network management technologies. We are not blind to the technical issues. Our point is – let’s have a discussion. We know you can’t have a CDMA device and expect it to work on a GSM network.

On Skypes’s interests in promoting VoIP over wireless: This is not about Skype’s welfare. It’s about whether consumers are better off if they can attach a device to the wireless network that isn’t sold through a store that bears the name of their service provider.