FCC’s 19th Mobile Wireless Competition Report

This Nineteenth Mobile Wireless Competition Report analyzes competition across the entire mobile wireless marketplace, including key market segments such as spectrum and infrastructure. It provides an analysis of the overall competitive dynamics of the industry, describing the various operating entities and their relative positions using indices such as market share, subscribership (totals, additions, and churn), as well as various financial indicators. The Report then presents a broad overview of industry trends and developments in the mobile marketplace that have taken place since the Eighteenth Report. The Report then turns to an analysis of key inputs necessary for provision of mobile service, such as spectrum and network infrastructure.

Spectrum, in particular, is a critical input that wireless service providers need for the provision of mobile wireless services, and this Report examines the distribution of spectrum in the various bands. Next, the Report analyzes recent developments in the ways service providers compete for and attract subscribers through pricing innovations, such as the decreased reliance on traditional handset subsidies and term contracts. The Report then analyzes competitive rivalry in non-price factors, such as coverage, service quality, and speed. Finally, the Report considers developments in the downstream mobile wireless ecosystem as well as issues such as consumer access to information and intermodal developments.