Steve Largent, president of wireless association CTIA, told reporters Thursday that his trade group will use the FCC's recently announced notices of inquiry on innovation and competition in the mobile marketplace to share his industry's success story. Having a fact-based examination, which FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski requested at last week's Commission meeting, will "be a good thing for our industry," Largent said. Genachowski has faced pressure from Congress and smaller telecom firms to investigate whether firms like AT&T, Verizon and Sprint Nextel are unfairly dominating the space.
Largent insisted, as telecom companies' executives have, that there is vigorous competition in the wireless industry. Prices continue to fall; 95 percent of U.S. consumers have a choice of three or more carriers; consumer satisfaction is up and complaints are down, he said. Largent also acknowledged that the mobile industry has been impacted by the economic slump. "We have not seen the numbers grow the way they have the last three years but nonetheless we're still growing," he said.
CTIA is also lobbying hard for regulators to make available more spectrum. The FCC has held two auctions in recent years, which resulted in the freeing of valuable spectrum, but Largent said more is needed. He said the last auction took about a decade to come to fruition and companies and customers "cannot afford to wait" years for the next auction. Additionally, his group is pressing Congress to change tax laws -- namely placing a five year moratorium on increases to wireless taxes. Consumers pay an average of 15.3 percent taxes on their wireless bill and "that's unacceptable," Largent said.
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