For what I understand... now that 4G is hitting the international market, companies who intend to survive will have to invest and upgrade their networks to 4G, else be pushed out of the market by those who have invested.
The details are not clear to me but it appears that fixed and mobile phones use the one and same numbering system, based on the residency of the owner of said number (whoever pays the bill).
This means that, i.e., a person based in Arlington, VA., will have two phones both starting with "703".
This makes it easier for anyone local company to gradually work its way into said local market, until there is a virtual monopoly in that area.
Europe is vastly different: not only do mibile phones have different numbering systems, so that you can tell if a subscriber is using a mobile or fixed phone simply by the number he's providing you, but the market is a network of confederated companies.
Vodafone comes to mind: although Vodafone UK, Vodafone FR and Vodafone IT are officially three different companies based in three different Countries, when you're abroad (roaming within Europe) Customer Support and System Support numbers are the same, and you can have assistance wherever you go.
Everybody's been advertising 4G for months now, and since you can buy unlocked phones for reasonably affordable prices (Samsung Galaxy S3 at €249 with 3G, Apple iPhone 6 64GB at €649) people generally buy the SIM chip alone, not a locked phone.
This makes for cheaper phones and companies are doing whatever in their marketing power to steal each other's customers.
Currently I have a "Family Contract" for three 3G SIMs + one 4G data SIM at €40/month, 2GB/each and unlimited calls and SMS.
BUT
Who uses SMS these days anyway, when you can send pics with WhatsApp and Skype calls to friends and family overseas ?
So, while I do not call this "deregulaiton" because the rules are there and they are quite clear, I must say that if the Government imposes too many limitations the market will suffer.
Remember the 1980's, when one could choose whether to use a PC running DOS+Win3.1, but also Apple Macintosh, Commodore Amiga and Atari ST1024?
It was an all-out battle, and Microsoft had to invent "Win95" or else lose the market to the competition running Motorola68000-based hardware.
The same is now, if you can't cope and upgrade to 4G, you're out.
And you can't force a company to "upgrade just a little bit", because the same people will lose out, again.
Not the Yuppies working in "Metropolis" but the country folk who are still struggling with dial-up and ETACS phones (are there still any out there?) because nobody is willing to deliver UTP cable or fiber optic to one Homestead 50 miles from Nowhereville, KS...
So, it's 4G and broadband or nothing...
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