Regulators should keep in mind that mobile broadband is still in ...
Regulators should keep in mind that mobile broadband is still in its early stages, as they consider additional regulations on the wireless industry, concludes a study by William Lehr of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was ordered by…
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the industry-supported Broadband for America. “Quantifying the economic interactions between fixed and mobile services will be important if one anticipates adopting any regulatory interventions targeted at remedying any perceived deficit in broadband competition in either market,” the report said. “Because the market for mobile broadband is still relatively immature, estimating the requisite own-price and cross-price demand elasticities is difficult today and would be prone to relatively large uncertainty bounds. If we were to anticipate a significant problem for competition arising, then this would be worrisome.” Growing investment by carriers and evidence of innovation “should give us pause before we consider imposing new regulatory obligations on broadband providers,” the report said. It says the wireless industry’s capital spending since 1985 has totaled more than $264 billion, according to CTIA figures. “The expansion of facilities-based networks has intensified competition, resulting in continuously falling prices,” the report said. “Roaming charges have fallen, pre-paid and unlimited calling plans and feature-rich options have expanded, and handset prices have fallen.”