Its official title is "Wireless Innovation and Consumer Protection," but "Really, they're the iPhone hearings," says public interest lobbyist Ben Scott. The House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet is expected to consider the future of cellphone and wireless data communications, including the "unbundling" of cellphones from their carriers, while activists are pushing for a new wireless data network in newly-available spectrum. Both developments could ultimately affect AT&T's exclusive carrier status with Apple.

Wireless carriers find their phone and internet services facing new scrutiny after AT&T's exclusive carrier deal with Apple's iPhone. "Congress doesn't need to run a hearing on whether the iPhone is the coolest, shiniest gadget on the market." says Scott. "The reason they're having a hearing is because the iPhone.is going to set the mold. This device and how it's treated by the Congress and the regulators in Washington is going to determine how we access the internet from now on with every device that follows in the iPhone's footsteps."

Markey set the tone for the debate, telling The Street that "the more portable these devices are, the more innovation we'll see."

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