U.S. Wireless Leads the World in Value, Competition & Innovation

CTIA filed an ex parte today with the FCC that examines how the U.S. wireless industry measures up in the global marketplace. Using data from Merrill Lynch, the filing shows in detail how the U.S. leads the market for wireless services among 26 of the largest OECD countries. Once again, wireless in America is at the forefront in overall value, competition and innovation. Specifically, the U.S. continues to lead the world in minutes-of-use, has the lowest revenue per minute, has the least concentrated wireless market and is the global frontrunner in efficient use of spectrum resources.

Last year we began taking an in-depth look at how wireless in America stacks up against the rest of the world. This came in response to OECD broadband rankings that didn’t include wireless broadband. Our initial research last year found the U.S. leads the world in wireless providing more services for less per minute-of-use than any of the OECD’s top ten countries. Nonetheless, there continues to be a lot of discussion and debate on the state of U.S. wireless service. Today’s filing features clear-cut facts to dispel some of the more popular myths. This ex parte is an update to our prior filing in 2008 and expands the comparisons to 26 countries.  

Here are some of the U.S.-focused highlights:

• The price-per-minute of service is the lowest of the 26 OECD countries tracked by Merrill Lynch.
• Consumers have the highest minutes-of-use per month of the 26 OECD countries tracked y Merrill Lynch.
• The U.S. has the least concentrated market, and accordingly, the lowest HHI.
• At least 33 companies manufacture wireless devices for the U.S. market. 
• Consumers can choose from nearly 630 wireless devices.
• In the last year alone, six different companies have launched or announced application stores, giving consumers access to over 60,000 applications.
• Subscriber counts for high-speed wireless lines more than doubled and advanced wireless service lines more than tripled in the last year. 
• The percentage of consumers actively using mobile Internet capabilities is higher than any other country according to Nielsen.

Additionally, wireless broadband has been the fastest growing segment of the broadband industry according to the latest FCC data.  In 2007 alone, the number of wireless broadband subscribers more than doubled!

Ultimately, this means that U.S. wireless consumers enjoy an unparalleled value in service, driven by the competition and innovation in the wireless industry.  

For more information and to access the entire filing, click here.