This has been a long time coming, we are sure many are glad to see The FCC Step in & ask the questions Millions of iPhone users have been asking among themselves. The Federal Communications Commission on Friday launched inquiries of Apple and AT&T for denying iPhone users access to Google’s voice application, another sign of the administration’s heightened scrutiny of competition in the high-tech and telecommunications sectors.

In letters to Apple and AT&T, the FCC asked the companies to explain why Google’s voice application was rejected from the cell phone and removed from Apple’s iPhone applications store. The agency also asked AT&T, the exclusive service provider for the iPhone, what role it may have had in making that decision.

James D. Schlichting, head of the FCC’s wireless bureau, asked the companies in the letter: “Did Apple act alone, or in consultation with AT&T, in deciding to reject the Google Voice application and related applications? If the latter, please describe the communications between Apple and AT&T in connection with the decision to reject Google Voice.”

The FCC “has a mission to foster a competitive wireless marketplace, protect and empower consumers, and promote innovation and investment,” Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a statement about the inquiries. “Recent news reports raise questions about practices in the mobile marketplace.”

credits – Wasington Post – Read Full Story