FCC Seeks Comment On The State Of Mobile Wireless Competition

This Public Notice solicits input on competition in the mobile wireless marketplace for the Federal Communications Commission’s (the Commission) Nineteenth Annual Report on the State of Competition in Mobile Wireless, including Commercial Mobile Radio Services (Nineteenth Report).

The Communications Act requires the submission to Congress each year of reports analyzing competitive conditions with respect to commercial mobile services. On December 23, 2015, the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau released the Eighteenth Mobile Wireless Competition Report. With this Public Notice, the Bureau seeks to update the information and metrics used in the Eighteenth Report for our analysis of competition in the mobile wireless marketplace for the Nineteenth Report. This Public Notice seeks comment and information on competitive dynamics within the mobile wireless marketplace regarding, for example, the number of subscribers and financial indicators, such as revenue or profitability. In addition, we seek comment and information on overall industry metrics such as coverage, including by spectrum band, technology, geography, and demographics. We also seek comment and information on upstream (e.g., spectrum) segments as well as on consumer behavior regarding mobile wireless services, including consumer usage, handsets, mobile applications, and intermodal developments, such as mobile-wireline substitution. Further, we seek comment and information on pricing levels and trends and other non-price factors on which service providers compete, as well as on performance metrics for mobile broadband networks, such as speed and latency, including the methodologies used for assessment. Finally, we also ask parties to comment on whether the metrics provided in the Eighteenth Report were sufficient for analyzing competition in the mobile wireless marketplace in a useful and timely manner, or whether any changes should be made for the metrics to be included in the Nineteenth Report.

All interested parties may file comments on or before May 31, 2016 and reply comments on or before June 15, 2016.