ON THE GREAT WIRELESS "OPEN" HYPE-FEST

HEAR YE, HEAR YE

"Open" is the new Black if you're a wireless telco, at least for now. 

Days after Verizon announced it's plans to field an open network by the end of next year, AT&T is apparently now claiming that it's the "most" open, immediately, no less.

Here's the USA Today story to prove it, with the misleading and over-reaching headline, "AT&T flings cellphone network wide open". 

In reality, all it's really about is that AT&T being the largest GSM network in the U.S., allows customers to put an AT&T SIM card into most unlocked phones and devices, thus enabling them on the AT&T network. 

All AT&T is flinging today is a marketing/PR campaign to take advantage of this "open" thing ahead of the upcoming 700 Mhz wireless spectrum auctions, where Google and other tech companies hope to try and influence US wireless networks to be REALLY open.

The only exception in the AT&T commitment to "openness", of course is the Apple iPhone, as the article goes on to explain:

"Despite its bear hug of "open" standards, one AT&T device, for now, will remain tightly closed: the Apple iPhone.

AT&T has a deal with Apple to be the exclusive U.S. distributor for the next five years. To get the device, consumers must sign a two-year contract.

AT&T has no plans to change that arrangement, de la Vega says. "The iPhone is a very special, innovative case."

Isn't that special?

For now, we're at the stage where the phone companies hope to convince the world that they're open by just widely saying so as many times as possible.

We'll see how well that works for them.