Tim Wu, Freedom Fighter

His wireless-phone manifesto was the inspiration for Google's new mobile-software strategy, which includes the Open Handset Alliance

by Spencer E. Ante

On Nov. 5, Google (GOOG) unveiled what many in the phone business had long awaited. CEO Eric Schmidt explained how the search giant was ready to create new software for mobile phones that would shake up the telecom status quo. A Google-led "Open Handset Alliance" would provide consumers an alternative to the big cellular carriers and give them new choices among mobile phones and the types of nifty services that run on them, from e-mail to Google Maps.

Google's brain trust was again trying to change the rules of the game. Behind the scenes, they owe a sizable debt to a man nearly unknown outside the geeky confines of cyberlaw. He is Tim Wu, a Columbia Law School professor who provided the intellectual framework that inspired Google's mobile phone strategy. One of the school's edgier profs, Wu attends the artfest Burning Man, and admits to having hacked his iPhone to make it work on the T-Mobile (DT) network.

Now, Wu's offbeat ideas are entering the mainstream. In February, he published a paper in the International Journal of Communication proposing a radical new vision of freedom for the U.S. wireless industry. He argued that the Federal Communications Commission should mandate that providers allow consumers to use any cell phone with any wireless operator, and install any programs they want on their phones as long as they were not illegal or harmful. "It would make a huge difference in the wireless industry," says Wu. "It will blow open the wireless market."

A Trigger for Innovation

The paper spread like juicy gossip around the Googleplex. Wu's vision resonated because Google had become frustrated with phone companies that were blocking some Google applications from being used on phones attached to their networks. Like Wu, Google believes an alliance based on openness will trigger a new wave of innovation. "Tim helped us catalyze a strategy," says Chris Sacca, head of special initiatives at Google. "He's a singular force in this space. You're just seeing the start of what he's going to accomplish."

Wu, 35, has emerged this year as a key influencer in telecom. He rose to prominence by popularizing "Net neutrality," the notion that network service providers should not be allowed to deny people access to certain Web sites or prioritize certain content. Telecom carriers believe their multi­billion-dollar investments give them the right to decide what is transmitted on their networks. "The highly competitive wireless industry is demonstrating that neither legislation nor regulation is required to produce innovation," says Verizon Wireless spokesman Jeffrey Nelson. While Sprint Nextel (S) and T-Mobile have joined the Google alliance, AT&T (T) and Verizon, the two largest U.S. wireless carriers, have not. Wu ­argues that wireless networks are like public utilities, and should be kept free from corporate interference. "They need to carry content without discrimination," he says.

Important Voice

Wu has had a surprisingly large influence on telecom policy on Capitol Hill. In 2006, he was invited by the FCC to help draft the first-ever Net neutrality rules that were attached to the merger of AT&T and BellSouth. They required the company for 30 months to allow consumers to access any content or service of their choice, while barring AT&T from providing faster service to any content or service provider. Over the summer, the FCC adopted two of Wu's proposals for an upcoming auction of wireless airwaves. The rules require network operators to support any device or application on the spectrum they buy. Now, Wu is pressing for network neutrality throughout wireless computing.