FCC Finds “Effective Competition” in US Wireless Market

Megalith

Megalith

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A divided Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday approved a report that found for the first time since 2009 there is “effective competition” in the wireless market, a finding that could help Sprint and T-Mobile to merge. However, someone will still need to explain how consumers will benefit, how prices will not rise, and how innovation will not dissipate in the face of so much more industry concentration.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said “most reasonable people see a fiercely competitive marketplace” citing intense price competition carriers. “This is strong, incontrovertible evidence,” he added. The FCC approved the report by a 3-2 vote. A decade ago there were seven major U.S. wireless carriers and today the largest four carriers led by Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc control 98.8 percent of the U.S. market, according to the FCC. The FCC would need to approve any merger as would the Justice Department. In 2014, the FCC and Justice Department told the carriers they would not back a merger and the companies abandoned merger talks.
 
AT&T is terrible. I switched to T-Mobile last week and it is so much better in all aspects, and I'm only paying 50 dollars for unlimited everything. I'd lock into T-Mobile or Sprint before the merger occurs.
 
Now what is the FCC's precise definition of "effective competition"?
 
Just adding to the chorus of consumers unable to comprehend how anything this man is going to do is going to help us. I think it would be just about physically impossible. Like it would be counter to his very DNA. Boo hiss!
 
If we were talking about Verizon and AT&T merging, or having Sprint or T-Mobile merge with either Verizon or AT&T, that would clearly be bad.

We need more large cell companies to compete with the existing large cell companies, the existing large cell companies being Verizon and AT&T. Having Sprint and T-Mobile (currently both tiny companies compared to Verizon or AT&T) merge would be exactly what is needed to create a 3rd large cell company on the level of Verizon and AT&T.

So how is this bad?
 
And...the consumer once again takes it in the ass.
 
I don't know what effective competition is, but I do know that I can get a prepaid plan in London for under 20 bucks that has unlimted texts (can't recall how much voice, cuz I never considered using it) and 7GB of data. Is there a plan like that in the USA? I doubt it.
 
nilepez said:
I don't know what effective competition is, but I do know that I can get a prepaid plan in London for under 20 bucks that has unlimted texts (can't recall how much voice, cuz I never considered using it) and 7GB of data. Is there a plan like that in the USA? I doubt it.
Click to expand...

Example from here in Denmark, 20USD including 25% VAT. Free voice, free SMS, free MMS, 5GB data, covers 53 countries without extra cost in any of them.
 
GotNoRice said:
If we were talking about Verizon and AT&T merging, or having Sprint or T-Mobile merge with either Verizon or AT&T, that would clearly be bad.

We need more large cell companies to compete with the existing large cell companies, the existing large cell companies being Verizon and AT&T. Having Sprint and T-Mobile (currently both tiny companies compared to Verizon or AT&T) merge would be exactly what is needed to create a 3rd large cell company on the level of Verizon and AT&T.

So how is this bad?
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I guess when you think about it you'd have 3 carriers with these distinct attributes

Verizon = widest coverage
ATT = fastest speed
SprintMo = budget option

That doesnt really sound too anti-competitive to me. Right now Tmo and Sprint both serve the budget crowd and your decision is usually based around coverage between them in your area.
 
nilepez said:
I don't know what effective competition is, but I do know that I can get a prepaid plan in London for under 20 bucks that has unlimted texts (can't recall how much voice, cuz I never considered using it) and 7GB of data. Is there a plan like that in the USA? I doubt it.
Click to expand...
Is that 20 dollars or 20 pounds? Even if that is 20 pounds, with the exchange rate, that is a good price, and I am not aware of anything that inexpensive, but relatively speaking we have options that are not much more expensive. There are lots of different pre-paid plans available, depending on your needs. Some of them are quite affordable if you share. Right now, I'm sharing 4 lines with my wife, her sister and brother-in-law, and we are paying $25 per line for unlimited voice, text, and 25Gig of shared data.
 
nysmo said:
I guess when you think about it you'd have 3 carriers with these distinct attributes

Verizon = widest coverage
ATT = fastest speed
SprintMo = budget option

That doesnt really sound too anti-competitive to me. Right now Tmo and Sprint both serve the budget crowd and your decision is usually based around coverage between them in your area.
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Well I wouldn't call Sprint the 'budget option'. I've been with them for years and get decent enough coverage and speed in most places. I call them the logical cheap bastard option because you refuse to pay out the ass to V and ATT for no real added benefit. :)
 
nysmo said:
I guess when you think about it you'd have 3 carriers with these distinct attributes

Verizon = widest coverage
ATT = fastest speed
SprintMo = budget option

That doesnt really sound too anti-competitive to me.
Click to expand...
LOL....
...oh, serious.
 
MarkVI said:
Just assume anything coming out of Ajit Pai's mouth is designed to screw over consumers and you'll probably be on safe ground.
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This is the honest to god truth. This man is a stain on the FCC resume. Anything he supports is horrible for consumers and benefits only providers. Awful choice for FCC chair
 
I don't like AJit, but there is competition, prices have come down, unlimited plans are back etc. etc
 
Romale23 said:
I don't like AJit, but there is competition, prices have come down, unlimited plans are back etc. etc
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Only when one decides to do something crazy to shake things up. Which is not typical. Watch: give it a few years and they will try to phase out unlimited plans again and force people off them just like they have been. They only added it again because V was bleeding customers. I have been using Sprint for so long because I insist on supporting a company that KEEPS their unlimited plans.
 
Where I live Verizon has pretty much conquered all. Sure there are a few small time ops but mainly there's only 1 choice. BTW is this the same guy who's trying to pass off 4g as acceptable broadband support for rural areas?
 
Effective competition only because T-Mobile actually stirring things up for dumb and dumber. Sprint is and was always a joke.
 
GotNoRice said:
If we were talking about Verizon and AT&T merging, or having Sprint or T-Mobile merge with either Verizon or AT&T, that would clearly be bad.

We need more large cell companies to compete with the existing large cell companies, the existing large cell companies being Verizon and AT&T. Having Sprint and T-Mobile (currently both tiny companies compared to Verizon or AT&T) merge would be exactly what is needed to create a 3rd large cell company on the level of Verizon and AT&T.

So how is this bad?
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This. Unlike most of you I've actually worked in this industry and I will agree it is healthier than is has been and the idea of Sprint and T-Mo joining to be able to fight evenly with VZW and AT&T is interesting. The very nature of the industry means a larger company can provide better service, so we should want there to be a larger number of heavyweights fighting at the top and 3 beats the hell out of 2 in my book.

I am not opposed to this.
 
nilepez said:
I don't know what effective competition is, but I do know that I can get a prepaid plan in London for under 20 bucks that has unlimted texts (can't recall how much voice, cuz I never considered using it) and 7GB of data. Is there a plan like that in the USA? I doubt it.
Click to expand...

I just picked up a budget plan for my son. $10 a month, unlimited domestic calls, unlimited texts, essentially zero data (100MBs - not even enough to surf the web) uses the AT&T network. Cheap cell PHONE plans exist. Cheap DATA plans do not.
 
jardows said:
Is that 20 dollars or 20 pounds? Even if that is 20 pounds, with the exchange rate, that is a good price, and I am not aware of anything that inexpensive, but relatively speaking we have options that are not much more expensive. There are lots of different pre-paid plans available, depending on your needs. Some of them are quite affordable if you share. Right now, I'm sharing 4 lines with my wife, her sister and brother-in-law, and we are paying $25 per line for unlimited voice, text, and 25Gig of shared data.
Click to expand...
Dollars. And that's me walking into a store, saying, "I need a sim card. I'll be here for about a week." No contract. No multi line bullshit. 1 line for 1 month with great coverage for less than you pay/line with 4 lines. And it's also cheaper than every MVNO that I've seeni in the USA. Same thing in Austrailia and NZ (though NZ was more than AUS as I recall).

I should add that that London Plan included the Sim card itself. In AUS and NZ you did have to buy the Sim, which I believe was typically 5 AUSD/NZD (a bit under 4 bucks)
 
Tiburon1186 said:
Well I wouldn't call Sprint the 'budget option'. I've been with them for years and get decent enough coverage and speed in most places. I call them the logical cheap bastard option because you refuse to pay out the ass to V and ATT for no real added benefit. :)
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I've had sprint for 17 years, and from a Data POV, they're pretty crappy. Between Dallas south Louisiana, I hit several dead spots that can last as much as 5 minutes at 80 MPH. That's a huge dead zone. Within Dallas proper there are spots that are lightning fast, but lots of them are dead slow too. I only stay, because my plan is 55/month (incl tax), but truth is that when I'm not in my car, I'm always on wifi, because they're just not reliable.

OTOH, they do have free SMS and (slow ass) Data when overseas. It's not great, but if all you need is Text and email, it's adequate...and for me it's good enough till I find a Sim Card
 
Romale23 said:
I don't like AJit, but there is competition, prices have come down, unlimited plans are back etc. etc
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Again, we pay way more than other countries and get less for it. For the money that Verizon charges for 1 line, i could get 4 lines in the EU or 1 line with with 3 top ups...probably 2 unlimited plans, but I didn't price those, since i was there for just over a week. Even Cricket (which is pretty cheap for the U.S.) is 2.5 times as much as what I paid in London (an expensive city). Granted Cricket comes with unlimited Voice, while I only got 500 minutes, but I don't need 500 minutes, much less unlimited (and voice ain't what they're charging us for anyway).
Kongar said:
I just picked up a budget plan for my son. $10 a month, unlimited domestic calls, unlimited texts, essentially zero data (100MBs - not even enough to surf the web) uses the AT&T network. Cheap cell PHONE plans exist. Cheap DATA plans do not.
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But that's the point, we're shafted on data, which is what most people use the phone for. If it about voice, I'd still use my old Sanyo clam shell.
 
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