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Posted: 05/20/10 by Jonathan Spalter
This Thursday in its monthly public meeting, the FCC will consider — as it does each year — the state of competition in the wireless marketplace. It is an important assessment and one that merits a cold, hard look — as the new FCC is wont to do — at the underlying facts and data.
Here are some of the key facts about the American wireless marketplace:
Our nation currently is home to the world's lowest per-minute voice prices, largest 3G customer base and most innovative and voluminous applications and device markets. More than nine out of 10 Americans have mobile devices. One in four of us favor them so much that we left our landline telephone service in the last century. Two-thirds of us have a choice of five or more wireless providers and a range of plans from family discounts to pre-paid, no contract options to "all in" voice, data and texting for as little as $50 a month.
By any measure — from the number of facilities-based competitors to the market share of individual companies — U.S. consumers enjoy the most competitive wireless marketplace on earth. Turn on your radio, your TV or open your newspaper and you plainly see compelling evidence of vibrant competition and consumer choice.
A recent memo from the FCC's general counsel, which lays out Chairman Julius Genachowski's "third way" proposal for net neutrality regulation, even cites industry claims that "one of the greatest successes in this industry in the last twenty years (is) the growth of wireless services."
A quick glimpse at the frenetic pace of this growth more than proves the point. Verizon and Google have gone public with their ambitions to challenge the AT&T/Apple iPad alliance. HP, Dell and others are also in hot pursuit. Cox is becoming the first U.S. cable company to offer wireless services directly to consumers and businesses. Regional players like Leap Wireless and MetroPCS are thriving. T-Mobile has vowed to deliver the fastest available speeds across its 3G footprint by year's end. Sprint is prepping the launch of its Evo 4G device, the first to run on its much-heralded 4G network. And, the FCC's recent approval of the Harbinger-Skyterra merger promises the emergence of a fifth national wireless player.
With so many choices, Americans can afford to be among the most communicative in the world, spending more than six billion minutes each day on their mobile phones and sending five billion daily text messages.
Importantly, the competition and consumer choice extends well beyond service providers. America is home to more than 240,000 mobile applications and at least seven competing applications stores. At the Apple App Store alone, more than three billion applications have been downloaded since its launch less than two years ago.
The U.S. is the envy of the mobile innovation world for the robust nature of our networks and the diverse array of consumer choices in devices, applications and service options.
While the FCC urges substantial reforms on multiple fronts, it would be judicious for the Commission to point out where the marketplace is working. Audiences from consumers to policymakers to Wall Street are actively speculating as to how broad or restrained the FCC's new regulatory push ultimately will be — and the potential impact for better or for worse from jobs and economic recovery to innovation and investment. Drawing a bright white line by affirming that competition is clearly working in wireless would offer a reassuring distinction amid a potential tangle of new red tape.
If the Commission aims to make good on its promise to advance a competitive, innovative and consumer-powered marketplace, now is the time and this week's mobile competition report is the place to make clear the upper limits of its regulatory ambitions.
This article was originally published on Huffington Post on May 19, 2010.
Posted: 03/16/10 by Jonathan Spalter
Cross-posted from Huffington Post
Heading into the mid-term elections, these are divisive times in the nation's capital. But today Washington witnessed a rare moment of comity, as the Federal Communications Commission released its much-anticipated National Broadband Plan. All five commissioners signed a joint statement embracing the broad objectives of the plan.
It will take days, if not weeks, for the various stakeholders to fully digest a blueprint of this ambition and scope. But before the detail-oriented debates ensue -- and the inevitable divisions emerge -- it's worth taking a moment to step back and offer an appreciation of the process that got us to this potentially historic day.
President Obama was elected on the promise of inclusive and connected government. In crafting this plan, the FCC offered a compelling model of how that gets done. The efforts of Chairman Genachowski and his broadband team have been exceptionally open. The three dozen policy workshops on topics ranging from civic engagement to connected health were webcast live and archived online, allowing ample opportunity for citizen engagement. Several dealt exclusively with the potential of mobile broadband, ranging from thoughtful debates on spectrum to discussions of bleeding-edge applications and wireless deployment. Commissioners also reached outside the beltway, holding nine field hearings throughout the country to bring diverse perspectives into the conversation.
As for the product itself, I am heartened that the Commission recognizes the critical role wireless technology can play to spur global competitiveness, innovation and sustainable job creation. Profoundly significant to mobile consumers and innovators alike is the vow to free up 500 megahertz of wireless spectrum. This is essential progress to support the boom in connected devices -- from the iPhone to the Kindle to mobile medical tablets, digital textbooks and future innovations yet to be imagined.
Other regulatory proceedings that may flow out of the plan could be more polarizing. The depth of division and passion on both sides of the net neutrality regulatory debate is well-known. And, the rumors of an attempt to overturn the Supreme Court's landmark Brand X decision, which essentially upheld the privatized nature of U.S. broadband networks, would likely make the net neutrality debate look like a walk in the park.
Likewise, narrower proposals to create new rules -- whether to impose wholesaling requirements or mandate the provision of "free" broadband services -- would affect many aspects of the already intensively competitive and innovative wireless market and could actually undermine the very laudable objectives of the national broadband plan. The FCC must resist these extreme calls and tread carefully to avoid disrupting an American industry that leads the world and is working extremely well today.
Among the cornerstones of the plan is a 'shoot for the moon' goal of connecting 100 million U.S. households to 100 megabits per second broadband service over the next decade. Goals of this ambition require an unshakeable policy foundation that is unequivocally supportive of investment. This means the many rulemakings that likely flow out of this plan must be cohesive in nature -- pulling in the same constructive and unifying direction and staying true to the Chairman's early and firm commitment to fact-based, data-driven decisions.
As we look to the future, I hope the Chairman remains steadfast in his commitment to encouraging a wireless ecosystem that can fundamentally transform our society and our economy. As we begin the long and hard process of translating bold ideas into concrete, attainable and constructive actions, the hard work is yet ahead. It is my hope that we stay true to this open and participatory process and keep in sight the larger goals of advancing deployment, accelerating investment and promoting genuine competition.
History will judge this plan on its effectiveness. If it does so favorably, a nod is due to the process that got us to this day. It's a famous old adage in Washington that you don't want to see the sausage being made. But thanks to the very innovation we unite today to celebrate and advance, a new era of openness and participatory government has arrived.
Jonathan Spalter, chairman of Mobile Future, has been founding CEO of leading technology, media, and research companies, including Public Insight, Snocap, and Atmedica Worldwide. He served as an advisor to and spokesperson for Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration. www.mobilefuture.org.
Posted: 03/16/10 by Mobile Future Team
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Federal Communications Commission released a National Broadband Plan, as directed by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, designed to stimulate economic growth, spur job creation, foster innovation and investment, and improve education, health care, energy efficiency, homeland security and more.
The following statement should be attributed to Jonathan Spalter, chairman of Mobile Future:
"We commend Chairman Genachowski and the broadband team at the FCC for demonstrating the vision and leadership required to tackle the challenging task of creating a National Broadband Plan. We are particularly heartened that the Commission recognizes the critical role wireless technology must play in charting a clear path forward and the need to identify additional spectrum to spur global competitiveness, innovation and sustainable high quality job creation.
We encourage the Chairman to remain steadfast in his commitment to encouraging a wireless ecosystem that holds the promise of fundamentally transforming our society and our economy. As the FCC moves toward the Plan's implementation, we urge the Chairman to continue along this bold roadmap to America's future by avoiding barriers that slow deployment, undermine investment, and stifle competition and innovation."
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Tags: AT&T, Competition, FCC, Genachowski, Huffington Post, Net Neutrality, Verizon, Wireless Innovation