Today the CTIA – The Wireless Association filed an ex parte communication with the Federal Communications Commission, which continues the heated dialog that the trade organization has with the FCC. According to the CTIA the purpose of the ex parte communication is to refute myths that European wireless users enjoy better service, choice or pricing than American consumers.
Among the data cited in the ex parte are the following:
- The price per minute of service in the United States is lower than every European country, without exception – it is one-half of the price in Finland and one-third (or less) of every other European country.
- Consumers in the United States have the highest minutes of use per month in the world, more than 500 minutes per month more than the next closest European country.
- According to British regulatory authority Ofcom, the United States has the lowest Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (“HHI”) of the nine European countries it recently measured, and when measuring the market share of 53 countries’ top two providers, the United States has the third lowest concentration. HHI is an economic formula used to measure market concentration.
- Contrary to recent reports that the United States trails in the deployment of Wi Fi capable devices, American wireless providers have thriving and growing Wi-Fi offerings, including ten handsets in the market now, with many more on the way.
- American consumers have access to more than 700 different devices – according to CTIA research, more than any other country on the planet. By contrast, the U.K. has approximately 180 different handsets.