The wireless industry has seen significant growth and changes the past year as new services and devices come to market. As Enterprise Mobile Today reports, the growth has also brought change to what consumers buy and how. New smartphone devices have been accompanied by new contract terms and pricing. In the view of some members of the FCC however, the changes have not always been good, while others disagree.
How competitive is the wireless industry? It really depends who you ask.
Members of the Federal Communications Commission approved the agency’s 14th annual report on the state of competition in the sector. But in remarks at Thursday’s monthly meeting, the commissioners made it plain that there are wide gulfs in their assessments of the wireless industry.
“All of the findings of this report are not comforting. Some are down right sobering, and worrying, too,” Commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat, said during the meeting. “Specifically, the report confirms something that I have been warning about for years: That competition has been dramatically eroded and is seriously endangered by continuing consolidation and concentration in our wireless markets.”
But the Republican commissioners had a markedly different interpretation of the report’s findings, highlighting the hefty capital expenditures the carriers have reported and several data points indicating that large majorities of consumers have their choice of multiple mobile voice and broadband providers.
