The Federal Communications Commission released its latest report on mobile competition Thursday in fulfillment of its obligations to the Congress. According to the FCC study, 90 percent of Americans had a mobile wireless device at the end of 2008 and were using their devices to talk for an average of 709 minutes each month.
This year’s report marked the first time that the FCC has reported a reduction in voice usage, and an increased reliance on text and multimedia messaging may be a contributing factor. By contrast, data traffic grew significantly because of the introduction of a growing number of smartphones that provide mobile Internet access and other non-voice services, the FCC report said.
“In so many ways, this explosion of mobile innovation is great news for American consumers,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. “Perhaps no sector of our economy holds more promise for 21st century U.S. leadership in innovation and investment than wireless broadband.”
A Bright Caution Light
Android-powered and iPhone devices have been particularly successful in creating an ecosystem of applications and services, the report noted. According to the FCC, there were more than 100,000 applications on the Apple App Store, and 15,000 on the Android Market as of December 2009.
But some of the report’s other findings are worrisome and downright sobering, noted FCC Commissioner Michael Copps. The report’s measurement of mobile industry ownership density, for example, “shows that the concentration of mobile wireless service providers has skyrocketed since the first FCC report of this type was issued seven years ago,” Copps said.
The finding should flash a bright caution light for the FCC as it goes about the business of advancing competition and consumer well-being in the broadband age, Copps observed. “We are going to need an extra dose of vigilance going forward and use whatever policy levers we have…