AT&T disagrees with FCC report on wireless concentration

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: U.S. mobile-telephone providers’ concentration is rising and as a result AT&T Inc., the nation’s second- biggest wireless company feels that it may lead to more regulation. The finding is of the Federal Communications Commission which under Chairman Julius Genachowski, a Democrat, is increasing scrutiny of wireless carriers for actions such as exclusive contracts with handset makers and fees that may thwart competition.

He described the aim of the report to lay out facts and data that will help the agency’s decision-making.

According to Robert Quinn, AT&T senior vice president of federal regulatory, the FCC’s decision is a dramatic break from years of solid precedent and its seems intended to justify more regulation in a market where it is clear beyond doubt that regulation is simply unwarranted. Republican Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker has described this report as something which should not lead anyone to question the overall competitiveness and the agency should have made an affirmative finding of a competitive market.

President Steve Largent of the CTIA-the Wireless Association, the Washington-based trade group whose members include AT&T and Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group Plc expressed his concern saying that any attempt to add regulation to wireless industry as a result of this report would be both misguided and harmful to consumers.

Competition among the two largest carriers has been taken into consideration in the FCC report and the wireless industry is moving towards duopoly.  Experts feel that AT&T-Verizon competition may be good for the majority of consumers right now in the dense markets but the trend coming about here would potentially eliminate competition, first in the small, rural markets and later in the more densely populated markets.

Wireless investment in the USA in 2009 exceeded the combined levels in the five largest European countries.