Wireless Wave - Spring 2008 - (Page 33)

FCC Report: “The competitive marketplace for wireless service is continuing to bring consumers more choices, better services, and lower prices.” Kevin Martin FCC Chairman “Effective Competition” M in Wireless Marketplace ore choices. Greater value. Increased coverage. Those are the hallmark beneﬁts enjoyed by wireless consumers today, and, according to the Federal Communications Commission, are clear evidence of a vibrantly competitive industry. Fifteen years after the stage was set by President Clinton’s signing of the 1993 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, the FCC continues to recognize that there is “effective competition” in the U.S. wireless marketplace, and that wireless plays an increasingly signiﬁcant role in the lives of American consumers. The FCC’s Twelfth Annual Report on the wireless industry has again found that “U.S. consumers continue to reap signiﬁcant beneﬁts” from competition. As FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin observed, the report “demonstrates that the competitive marketplace for wireless service is continuing to bring consumers more choices, better services, and lower prices.” By all of the objective measures in the FCC’s report, the value proposition provided to wireless consumers is unequalled in telecommunications, and the increasing use of a wide variety of wireless services is an inarguable expression of their demand for cellular technology and satisfaction with companies offering it to them. Choice and Competition The FCC report found that choice in wireless continues to flourish in America today. In the latest Competition Report, the FCC analyzed the competitive state of the US at a dramatically new level. While previous reports analyzed competition at the county level, the most recent report also analyzed competition at the census block level. A look at the num33 bers helps one to properly appreciate this new level of analysis. There are approximately 3,200 counties in the U.S. – and there are more than 8 million census blocks. That’s 2,500 times more precise. And even with this new level of granularity, the FCC still found that more than 95 percent of the American population lives where they have a choice of three or more competing wireless providers. The report found that 90 percent of Americans live in census blocks served by four or more competing wireless providers, and 57 percent live in areas served by five or more competing providers. While a majority of Americans live in high population centers, the report reveals that rural consumers are also well-served. Rural counties in the U.S. average 3.6 Spr i ng 20 0 8 Sp ri r 200

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Wireless Wave - Spring 2008

Wireless Wave - Spring 2008 Contents A Letter from Our Chairman A Letter from Our President Pryor Approval The Promise of M-commerce Moving Targets Foreign Service Multiple Choice Legs, Regs, and Wireless Wireless News The Supplier’s Voice CTIA Welcomes New Members Index of Advertisers Roaming with….

Wireless Wave - Spring 2008

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