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 NEWS  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  News  Media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  TTY:  1-  888-  835-  5322 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT:  September  26,  2006  Rachel  Kazan  (202)  418-  0651 
 FCC  ADOPTS  ANNUAL  REPORT  ON  STATE  OF  COMPETITION  IN  THE  WIRELESS  INDUSTRY 
 Washington,  D.  C.  –  Today,  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC)  adopted  its  Eleventh  Annual  Report  to  Congress  on  the  state  of  competition  in  the  mobile  telephone  –  or 
 Commercial  Mobile  Radio  Services  (CMRS)  –  industry.  This  report  examines  the  conditions  prevailing  in  the  CMRS  marketplace  in  2005.  The  FCC  concluded  that  there  is  effective 
 competition  in  the  CMRS  marketplace  based  on  its  analysis  of  various  measures  of  competition,  including:  the  number  of  competing  carriers  providing  service  in  an  area,  market  shares,  pricing 
 behavior  and  trends,  technological  upgrades  and  product  innovations,  subscriber  growth,  usage  patterns,  churn,  and  service  quality. 


 Today’s  report  reviews  competitive  market  conditions  by  grouping  indicators  of  the  status  of  competition  into  four  categories:  (1)  market  structure,  (2)  carrier  conduct,  (3)  consumer 
 behavior,  and  (4)  market  performance.  The  report  also  examines  a  number  of  related  topics,  including  urban-  rural  and  international  comparisons. 


 The  report  shows  that  competition  among  wireless  carriers  continues  to  afford  many  significant  benefits  to  consumers.  During  2005,  the  number  of  mobile  telephone  subscribers  in 
 the  United  States  rose  from  184.7  million  to  213  million,  increasing  the  nationwide  penetration  rate  to  approximately  71  percent.  The  amount  of  time  mobile  subscribers  spend  talking  and 
 texting  on  their  mobile  phones  has  also  increased  and  the  volume  of  text  message  traffic  grew  to  48.7  billion  messages  in  the  second  half  of  2005,  nearly  double  the  24.7  billion  messages  in  the 
 same  period  of  2004.  Revenue  per  minute,  which  can  be  used  to  measure  the  per-  minute  price  of  mobile  telephone  service,  fell  22  percent  during  2005  from  $0.09  in  2004  to  $0.07  in  2005.  The 
 J.  D.  Power  and  Associates  2006  Wireless  Call  Quality  Study  found  that  the  quality  of  mobile  telephone  service  improved  in  the  past  year,  with  reported  problems  per  100  calls  reaching  the 
 lowest  level  since  the  inaugural  study  in  2003. 
 Action  by  the  Commission  September  26,  2005  by  Eleventh  Report  (FCC  06-  142).  Chairman  Martin,  Commissioners  Adelstein,  Tate,  and  McDowell,  with  Commissioner  Copps  concurring. 
 Separate  statements  issued  by  Chairman  Martin,  Commissioners  Copps,  Tate,  and  McDowell. 
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 For  additional  information,  contact  Heidi  Kroll,  Wireless  Telecommunications  Bureau,  at  (202)  418-  2361  or  Heidi.  Kroll@  fcc.  gov;  or  Ben  Freeman,  Wireless  Telecommunications  Bureau,  at 
 (202)  418-  0628  or  Ben.  Freeman@  fcc.  gov. 
 WT  Docket  No.  06-  17 
 –  FCC  – 
 News  and  other  information  about  the  Federal  Communications  Commission  is  available  at  www.  fcc.  gov. 
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