Federal Communications Commission FCC 11-103
STATEMENT OF
COMMISSIONER MIGNON L. CLYBURN
Re:  Implementation of Section 6002(b) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, 
Annual Report and Analysis of Competitive Market Conditions with Respect to Mobile 
Wireless, including Commercial Mobile Services, WT Docket No. 10-133.
I commend Ruth Milkman and the talented staff of the Wireless Telecommunications 
Bureau, for continuing the approach they took in the Fourteenth Mobile Report.  As this Fifteenth 
Report reaffirms, the percentage of American households which rely solely on mobile wireless 
providers for their phone service, increases each year.  As the importance of the mobile services 
industry grows, so should the amount of information the Commission collects to evaluate the 
structure of that market.  Therefore, the Commission should continue to gather more data about 
the key input segments such as spectrum, towers, backhaul, and transport facilities, as well as the 
outputs, such as voice services, text messages, Internet access services and other data 
applications.  More information on these relevant factors improves the Commission’s ability to 
make policy decisions to ensure that the mobile services market can bring the tremendous 
benefits of innovation in mobile services to all American households.  In this regard, I was 
particularly pleased to see that this Report, for the first time, includes an analysis of how the 
number of mobile service providers, which have coverage in a census tract, varies according to 
median income levels.  
I still find it troubling that despite the billions of dollars that have been invested to 
provide wireless coverage to most parts of our country, millions of Americans living in rural parts 
of our country do not enjoy the competitive choices available in metropolitan areas.  As the 
Report points out, more than seven million Americans still live in rural census blocks with two or 
fewer mobile service providers.  In addition, more than 37 million Americans live in rural census 
blocks that have two or fewer choices when it comes to mobile broadband services.  
In my separate statement last year on the Fourteenth Mobile Services Report, I 
encouraged commenters to provide more information about how the Commission could spur 
deployment of networks in rural areas. I applaud the Chairman and the Bureau for presenting us, 
this March, with an NPRM that sought comment on creative proposals to spur more mobile 
network development on Tribal Lands.  I also appreciate the efforts of some providers, such as 
Verizon Wireless, that have sought to partner with smaller service providers to deploy more 
advanced mobile broadband networks in rural areas.  It would be great if we could see other 
creative solutions to provide Americans with more competitive options for mobile broadband 
service. 
I am disappointed however, to see that just as with last year’s Report, the staff could not 
calculate unit price measures for mobile broadband data services as this is becoming an 
increasingly important mobile wireless service.  There is evidence before this Commission that 
this is especially the case for those segments of the population, such as communities of color and 
people living in low-income areas, which use their mobile devices to access the Internet more 
than other Americans.1 Also, according to the Report, the staff did not have sufficient 
  
1 John B. Horrigan, Broadband Adoption and Use in America at 5 (Federal Communications Commission) 
(2010) (Whereas 30 percent of all American adults access the Internet from a mobile device, 39 percent of 
African Americans and 39 percent of Latinos access the Internet from a mobile device); Letter from 
Latinos for Internet Freedom to Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary, FCC, GN Docket No. 09-191 (filed Dec. 2, 
Federal Communications Commission FCC 11-103
information, for the first time in several years, to calculate unit prices for text messaging.  The 
Commission needs revenue information specifically about mobile broadband use and text 
messaging, so that it can thoroughly evaluate if consumers are benefitting from lower prices for 
mobile data services -- a key element in an analysis of the mobile wireless market’s performance.  
I encourage the industry to work with Bureau staff in arriving at the least burdensome approach to 
provide the Commission with the information it needs to properly evaluate the mobile data 
services market.
    
2010), at i (“Lower barriers to adoption have facilitated the widespread use of the mobile Internet in 
communities of color and low-income areas, where many individuals would otherwise go without Internet 
access altogether. . . . [M]any of our constituents rely exclusively on mobile wireless Internet access as 
their onramp to the web.”).