On Thursday, February 27, 2020, the FCC’s Office of Economics and Analytics (“OEA”) released a Public Notice (“Notice”) seeking comment on the state of competition in the communications marketplace for the 2020 Communications Marketplace Report (“Report”) (GN Docket No. 20-60). The Report, which the Commission must publish in the last quarter of every even-numbered year, assesses the state of competition in voice, video, audio, and data services among telecommunications providers, mobile service providers, multichannel video programming distributors (“MVPDs”), broadcast stations, satellite providers, and Internet service providers. To assist the Commission with its assessment, OEA now seeks comments, analyses, data, statistics and information from stakeholders on notable trends and developments in the marketplace during 2018 and 2019, as well as relevant current and historical data that are comparable over time.
With respect to competition and deployment in mobile wireless services, OEA seeks information on (i) the competitive dynamics and industry trends in the mobile wireless industry including the factors that determine the demand for mobile wireless services, the number of connections, pricing, spectrum holdings, network coverage, and the development of innovative technologies; and (ii) whether current laws, regulations, or regulatory and marketplace practices pose a barrier to entry or expansion of existing providers, or entry of entrepreneurs or small businesses in the mobile wireless industry. The Notice also outlines a number of potential issues of interest to focus on with respect to the mobile wireless industry, including but not limited to, spectrum holdings and access to spectrum, the role of infrastructure in the marketplace, trends in usage and pricing, network quality and speed of service, and the extent of competition between mobile and fixed providers of voice, broadband, and video services.
Interested parties may access the most recent updates to the Communications Marketplace Report here: https://www.fcc.gov/communications-marketplace-report-updates.
Comments are due April 13, 2020
Reply comments are due May 13, 2020
Please Contact Us if you have any questions.