Parul Desai, Media Access Project; Chris Riley, Free Press

Initial comments in this proceeding and investigations conducted by the House and Senate demonstrate numerous problems with the wireless market. Prices are rising, consumer choice is artificially limited, and valuable innovations are being delayed or kept from the market altogether; and smaller competitors cannot get the spectrum, the backhaul, the roaming, or the handsets they need. Meanwhile, the major carriers arguments in this proceeding emphasize the existence of growth and innovation in the wireless market, which they contend indicates effective competition.

A proper analysis of the CMRS markets in the United States will indicate that the wireless market as a whole demonstrates an absence of effective competition, is likely to become less competitive, and produces active and ongoing consumer harms as a result of insufficient competition.