Open communication

In business, open communication (or open access to communication resources) is the ability of anyone, on equal conditions with a transparent relation between cost and pricing, to get access to and share communication resources on one level to provide value added services on another level in a layered communication system architecture. Simply put, Open access plans are to deregulate oligarchy of telecom operators in a bid to give consumers more choices for equipment, services and service vendors or carriers. It will also provide some breathing room for the controversial Net neutrality that has been the central issue between mobile carriers, like AT&T, Verizon and Sprint Nextel, and web media moguls, like eBay, Amazon.com and Google. True open communication is where employees are encouraged to share their thoughts and concerns, both good and bad, without the worry of retaliation from management when the feedback is bad.

Socioeconomic Impact

The concept of Open Access to Communication Resources is central in the ongoing transformation of the communication market from a "vertically integrated" market with a few operators owning and operating everything between the physical medium and the end-user, to an "open horizontal market" with an abundance of actors operating on different levels and providing value added services on top of each other.

Open Access is also a broad approach to policy and regulatory issues that starts from the question: what do we want to bring about outside of purely industry sector concerns? It places an emphasis on: empowering citizens, getting the best from public and private sector contributions and encouraging local innovation, economic growth and investment.

It is not simply about making micro-adjustments to the technical rules of the policy and regulatory framework but seeking to produce fundamental changes in the outcomes that can be delivered through it. Since the advent of World Wide Web (WWW) in the early 1990s, the greatest advantage the web culture has brought about through dot-com boom-and-bust cycles is decentralization that has created more user-centric society, embracing diversity, practicality, voluntarism and egalitarianism in every field across the planet.

See also

• Open Access Network
• 700 Mhz wireless spectrum auction
• Unbundled Access
• Wireless community network

External links

• Open Access Models: Options for Improving Backbone Access in Developing Countries -with a Focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (Report by Spintrack Consulting (funded by Infodev) on Open Access Models )
• OECD's Competition Law and Policy Committee recommends structural separation for increased competition in public utilities Recommendation of the Council concerning Structural Separation in Regulated Industries
• FCC Majority Backs Open-Access Plan for Airwaves
• Google's battle for wireless spectrum
• FCC approves rules for airwaves sale
• Non-Profit Foundation promoting the concept of Open Public Local Access Networks