Latest from Next TV in Mobile-future

McDowell Joins Mobile Future

john.eggerton@futurenet.com (John Eggerton) — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 13:56:00 +0000

Former FCC commissioner Robert McDowell has joined Mobile Future as chief public policy advisor.

McDowell, who left the commission in 2013, continues as partner and co-leader of the global communications practice at Cooley LLP. (The item initially indicated he had exited Cooley, which is not the case).

"McDowell’s decades of leadership in the telecom, media and telecom sectors will bring strong leadership to the forward-thinking Mobile Future team," Mobile Future said.

McDowell, a Republican, served as a commissioner from 2006 to 2013. Originally nominated by President George W. Bush, He was re-nominated in 2009 by President Barack Obama. He joined Wiley Rein in 2014 as a partner and Cooley in 2016.

“The organization has consistently encouraged investment and innovation in the ever-evolving wireless world," said McDowell. "I look forward to working hard to spur more competition, consumer choice and economic growth as we look to the 5G future.”

Before joining the FCC, McDowell was senior VP and assistant general counsel at COMPTEL. Before joining COMPTEL in February 1999, he served as the executive VP and general counsel of America's Carriers Telecommunications Association, which merged with COMPTEL.

Mobile Future promotes the interests of wireless broadband networks and suppliers. Its members include AT&T, Verizon, Samsung, and Qualcomm.

USTelecom Names New Communications Director

john.eggerton@futurenet.com (John Eggerton) — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 14:33:00 +0000

Jonathan Spalter, former chair of Mobile Future, has tapped his former communications director there for a top communications post at his new gig atop USTelecom.

Sally Aman, who has also helmed her own consulting firm, Aman & Associates, starts immediately.

Aman succeeds Anne Veigle, who has been with USTelecom for the past seven years.

“USTelecom’s members play the central role connecting our nation, investing in our economy, and pushing the envelope with world-leading innovation," said Aman. "This is a critical time to work on broadband issues, and I couldn’t be more excited to join the USTelecom team in supporting our members, their stakeholders and their customers.”

‘Pokémon Go’: Latest Salvo in Wireless Wars

Jonathan Spalter, Mobile Future — Mon, 08 Aug 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Spend any time outdoors lately and you've likely noted an exceptional uptick in smartphone walker s— slower with the steps, eyes fixed on tiny screens. However you feel about the Pokemon Go phenomenon, it was only a matter of days before a leading wireless carrier offered free data to its customers playing the game.

The move was the latest in a long line of savvy salvos in the intense, ongoing competition among regional and national wireless carriers to attract and keep customers. Indeed, a look at advertising buys over the past year reveals no fewer than 35 wireless companies taking to the airwaves some 440,000 times to make their case to consumers.

Mobile Future conducted a recent video project aimed at capturing the frenetic pace and free-wheeling diversity of the wireless wars. You can watch it here.

Anyone who questions the competitiveness of the U.S. wireless marketplace need only turn on their television. The top four national wireless providers are routinely ranked among the top 10 U.S. advertising spenders as each seeks to one-up the other with attractive consumer deals and claims of network superiority.

These intensive rivalries are not only a reality—but the defining reality of the modern U.S. mobile marketplace. And, the constant swirl and evolution of competitive offerings clearly empower consumers. One company dumps contracts. Others follow suit. Data rollover plans come on the market. Rivals respond in kind. Wireless companies are perpetually seeking new ways to find an edge.

Clearly, data is the belle of the ball: How much do you get, for what price and with what kind of rollover arrangement? Market rivals have a multitude of answers to these questions, and consumers freely sift through them for offerings that best suit their unique wireless way of life.

One thing virtually all consumers agree on seems straight out of a Captain Obvious skit: Consumers are fans of free. They are all for new choices that allow them to use more data at less or no cost. They appreciate, embrace and are excited for the free and low-cost offerings emerging in the marketplace. Indeed, a Mobile Future consumer survey found 88% of Americans did not want to see their government have any role in approving new wireless business models. They want that job for themselves.

Wireless competition abounds — to consumers’ and our nation's benefit:

• It's the reason a full 92% of Americans can choose from at least four wireless service providers — including three or more 4G offerings.

• It's the reason we reached President Obama's goal of connecting 98% of the country to the mobile Internet — a year ahead of schedule.

• It's the reason that the wireless consumer price index decreased by 45% since 1997 while overall consumer prices increased by 36% .

• It's the reason U.S. wireless companies lead the world in investment in next-generation 4G — and ultimately 5G — wireless networks.

• And, yes, perhaps it’s partly responsible for an inordinate number of your neighbors having a close encounter with a tree this weekend.

The point is: In today’s competitive wireless world, the choice is always yours as consumers. Market rivals are racing every day to dream up new ways to win and keep your business — creating fresh opportunities for consumers to take full advantage of all that mobile innovation has to offer. These are tangible benefits every American can safely grasp and use to their benefit in the real world. Take that, Pikachu.

Jonathan Spalter is chair of Mobile Future, a Washington, D.C.-based association of technology companies and nonprofit groups working to support investment and innovation in the wireless sector.

FCC Draws No Conclusions About Wireless Competition

john.eggerton@futurenet.com (John Eggerton) — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 20:00:00 +0000

The Federal Communications Commission has released its 18th report to Congress on competition in the wireless industry and, like other recent reports, comes to no conclusion about whether or not it is competitive.

That did not sit well with mobile broadband players, but the commission's Wireless Bureau, which released the report, suggested that handicapping competiveness could lead to an overly simplistic conclusion.

"Given the complexity of the various interrelated segments and services within the mobile wireless ecosystem, any single conclusion regarding the effectiveness of competition would be incomplete and possibly misleading in light of the complexities we observe," the bureau said.

The report looked at "market concentration, the conduct and rivalry of service providers, and competition in other segments of the mobile wireless ecosystem, including spectrum, backhaul, and handsets/devices, as well as consumer behavior," but again drew no conclusions about what all those indicated about competition.

The bureau did emphasize the need for more spectrum, including from the broadcast incentive auction and spreading low-band spectrum around to boost that competition. While theoretically the broadcast spectrum will go to the highest bidder whatever use they want to put it to, but the bureau says confidently that it "will be used for the provision of mobile wireless service, with flexible use service rules."

Mobile Future, whose members include AT&T, Verizon, and Qualcomm, was disappointed that the FCC did not see the competitive market they suggest is right in front of it.

"Once again, the FCC's competition report has been inspired more by the remembrance of things past, rather than the real-world record," the group said. The FCC, under Republican chairman Kevin Martin, concluded in the 2007 and 2008 reports that the marketplace was competitive, but since then the reports have been mum on a competition call either way. "Like something out of Marcel Proust, the more things change in our dynamic mobile marketplace, the more the FCC's analysis stays the same. It’s unfortunate that the FCC chooses not to recognize what millions of American mobile users see every day – our nation's ever-changing wireless sector, fueled by $32 billion in annual investment, and endless choice of services, plans, carriers and devices, is the global gold standard of competition."

Senior Republican commissioner Ajit Pai was not happy with the report's lack of conclusions.

"[T]his FCC will never find that there is effective competition in the wireless market, regardless of what the facts show. That’s because doing so would undermine the agency’s goal of expanding its authority to manipulate the wireless market -- a goal it can’t accomplish if it deems that market healthy," he said in a statement.

The Competitive Carriers Association read the report quite differently.

"The Report affirms an alarming trend of continued consolidation into the hands of the two dominant carriers measured by any metric," it said, "including amount of low-band spectrum, wireless revenues, or connections, to name a few. With the incentive auction just around the corner, this is a critical time for the wireless industry. The FCC must do everything possible to ensure a successful auction outcome that puts low-band spectrum into the hands of competitive carriers as soon as possible which will promote lasting competition and benefit consumers across the country. "

The FCC has reserved, subject to benchmarks, some low-band spectrum in the incentive auction for competitors to AT&T and Verizon, which already have the majority of that spectrum.