U.S. Winds Down Probe Into Wireless Carriers Over eSIM Technology
November 27 2019 - 11:41AM
Dow Jones News
By Drew FitzGerald
The U.S. Justice Department is winding down its antitrust probe
into whether U.S. wireless carriers steered technical standards to
make it harder for customers to switch providers, suggesting it is
unlikely to file charges in the matter.
The department in 2018 demanded information from AT&T Inc.,
Verizon Communications Inc. and other U.S. companies as well as
from GSMA, the international trade group that manages eSIM
standards.
Smartphones with an eSIM, or embedded subscriber identity
module, let users store multiple carrier profiles on the same
device. That makes it easy to switch between their networks, though
only one can be used at a time.
Smartphones with eSIMs are common in many countries but less
often used in the U.S. The government's inquiry focused on whether
American telecom companies might have steered the GSMA's
standards-writing process by making it harder for subscribers to
switch wireless companies. The department's 2018 inquiry revived a
previous information-gathering process that had wrapped up in
2016.
Apple Inc. and Google owner Alphabet Inc., which make devices
with eSIM technology, pushed for more leeway to design smartphones
with flexible SIMs.
The Justice Department recently issued a letter to GSMA that
said the London-based group's current way of managing eSIM
standards would comply with antitrust law.
GSMA, for its part, promised to include companies from more than
one industry in its standards-setting working groups, a move that
could give smartphone makers more influence over how eSIM
specifications evolve.
AT&T and Verizon previously said they were cooperating with
the U.S. probe.
Write to Drew FitzGerald at andrew.fitzgerald@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 27, 2019 11:26 ET (16:26 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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