17th Annual Mobile Wireless Competition Report

In recent years, mobile wireless services have gone from a luxury to a convenience to an absolutely central part of Americans’ daily lives. Increasing numbers of users now have multiple devices connected to mobile networks. Handsets are no longer used just for voice communication, email, social networking, and web browsing, but increasingly as hubs for entertainment, mobile commerce, and to connect other personal devices such as smart watches and fitness monitors. These developments have helped make mobile wireless one of the most important sectors in the national economy. The Federal Communications Commission is required by Congress to issue an annual report on the state of competition in the mobile wireless industry. On December 18, 2014 the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau released the Seventeenth Annual Mobile Wireless Competition Report. This report covered data from 2013 and the first half of 2014 and looked at factors such as market shares among providers, coverage, and pricing trends. Some of the key data and findings are presented below. As of May 29, 2015, the Bureau has included interactive versions of certain maps in the Appendices and Maps. Further, the Bureau has also updated certain charts to include more recent data as detailed below, and in the UPDATED Information.

Download the December 2014 Report Appendices and Maps UPDATED Information

Sources: UBS 411 Version 51 Table 31 p. 19; UBS 411 2Q 2014; CTIA Year-End 2013 Wireless Industry Indices; 16th CR

Estimated Mobile Wireless Coverage by Census Block July 2014

Sources: July 2014 Mosaik Data; 2010 Census Data.

The percentages of population located in census blocks with zero, one, two, or three or more mobile wireless or mobile broadband providers represent network coverage, which does not necessarily mean that they offered service to residents in the census block. In addition, we emphasize that a provider reporting mobile wireless or mobile broadband coverage in a particular census block may not provide coverage everywhere in the census block. For both these reasons, the number of providers in a census block does not necessarily reflect the number of choices available to a particular individual or household, and does not purport to measure competition. In addition, calculations based on Mosaik data on coverage, while useful for measuring developments in mobile wireless coverage, have certain limitations that likely overstate the extent of mobile wireless and mobile broadband coverage.

Estimated Mobile Wireless Broadband Coverage by Census Block July 2014

Sources: July 2014 Mosaik Data; 2010 Census Data.

The percentages of population located in census blocks with zero, one, two, or three or more mobile wireless or mobile broadband providers represent network coverage, which does not necessarily mean that they offered service to residents in the census block. In addition, we emphasize that a provider reporting mobile wireless or mobile broadband coverage in a particular census block may not provide coverage everywhere in the census block. For both these reasons, the number of providers in a census block does not necessarily reflect the number of choices available to a particular individual or household, and does not purport to measure competition. In addition, calculations based on Mosaik data on coverage, while useful for measuring developments in mobile wireless coverage, have certain limitations that likely overstate the extent of mobile wireless and mobile broadband coverage.

Source: CTIA Wireless Industry Indices Year-End 2013, Chart 32 Indices.

Source: ComScore, April 2014

Data includes Equipment Installment Payment (EIP) plans with early upgrade options, discounts on monthly service fees for EIP customers, major changes to pricing of Post-paid service plans, and promotions and incentives to attract and retain customers.

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