Jamilah King posted an in-depth article addressing how carriers such as AT&T and Verizon have created cyber-ghettos via their wireless service offerings. Unfortunately this admittedly in-depth article is a poorly veiled attempt to argue for net neutrality; a concept that has never considered how best to promote broadband adoption in minority communities much less increase economic activity. Net neutrality will only drive up the cost minorities pay for access to the Internet as higher compliance costs are passed through in the prices for mobile devices and wireless broadband access.

The article started off well, giving an ample description of the downside of access to the Internet via mobile versus fixed
wire connections. I was hoping that the article would focus on how the disproportionate reliance on handheld wireless
devices hinders our ability to produce content and create other ideas that could be sold for income, especially in a challenging economy such as ours. All I got was more whining about AT&T’s alleged bogey-man status.

It raises the question, however. Is the digital divide being compounded by the marketing of wireless devices toward blacks and Latinos thus giving the market the false sense that minorities are only interested in entertainment?

Mark Gibbs wrote a piece in Network World concluding that proponents of AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile is likened to a quantum leap into another universe; a universe of the disingenuous, to summarize Mr. Gibbs.

Mr. Gibbs’ argument sounds like an attempt to mix matter and anti-matter. What Mr. Gibbs fails to acknowledge is that it is not Congress’ intent to use the courts to roll back the evolution of the mobile broadband access industry, or to ensure that a carrier stuck in the last decade because of its inability to deploy true 4G service survive in an industry where AT&T and Verizon are prepared to deploy real 4G services throughout now and 2012.

And I guess that opponents to AT&T’s attempt to purchase T-Mobile have a different interpretation of Newton’s law of gravity. When T-Mobile’s parent, Deutsche Telekom, says that they are ready to leave the U.S. market should this deal not go through, and have demonstrated their seriousness by curtailing investment in T-Mobile, we actually expect them to stick around and hire more employees? Sounds like the author is living in the universe of unreality.

Deutsche appears to be a bell weather of what’s happening in Europe today. Given their banking crisis, I take Deutsche at its word that they intend to cut their losses, meaning they intend to cut their customers loose.

Guess who will be there to snatch them up: the biggest whiner in the house, Sprint-Nextel. What will be the argument then?