The FCC Report on Wireless Competition – Another Angle on How Competition Works

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released its 16th annual “Report and Analysis of Competitive Market Conditions with Respect to Mobile Wireless”. Verizon recently published a blog post cataloging the high levels of competition and consumer value the FCC’s report found that the mobile wireless sector has consistently been producing. But there is another dimension to competition that the report does not explain or analyze, which is: how competition throughout the Internet ecosystem is generating innovation, leading to new choices for consumers, and promoting even fiercer competition.

Mobile broadband providers are part of a kaleidoscope of companies – from device manufacturers, to apps makers, to software providers, to content and online services providers – that both collaborate and compete with one another in the Internet ecosystem. Competition is healthy in the mobile wireless sector, but the story of how competition works in the broader ecosystem deserves attention as well. The FCC’s report pulls together lots of data demonstrating how competitive the wireless industry is in its own right. But a very important aspect of how competition has evolved is the emergence of the dynamic competition model. When seen from this view, mobile competition is even healthier than it seems when focusing on the wireless sector itself.