wireless competition

iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S3? And why Sprint LTE isn't enough

There are so many factors to consider when buying a new smartphone and choosing a wireless service. The truth is that what's good for one consumer may not satisfy the needs of another.

In this edition of Ask Maggie, I offer some buying advice for a consumer considering the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3. It's not an easy decision. These devices are both excellent choices. I also explain to a different reader why I didn't even consider Sprint's network when buying my iPhone 5. And I talk about the importance of network coverage in … Read more

Why the FCC might ignore Congress' will on wireless

Editors' note: This is a guest column. See Fred Campbell's bio below.

Although it's running late, the Federal Communications Commission is on the brink of releasing its yearly report to Congress on the state of competition in the mobile wireless market. For nearly a decade, the FCC has found the wireless market in the United States to be effectively competitive.

Last year, however, the FCC shocked the industry by refusing to even make a finding regarding competition in the mobile wireless market. The FCC instead said that "because no single definition of effective competition" would be … Read more

Auditors question U.S. wireless competition

American wireless customers are paying less for cell phone service than they did a decade ago, but they have fewer choices of carriers, a report from the Government Accountability Office said Thursday.

The GAO is the audit arm of Congress, and in the report there was both good and bad news for consumers. The good news is that the average price for wireless services declined each year from 1999 to 2008, the GAO said, citing Consumer Price Index data. In fact, average prices in 2009 were half the prices in 1999, the report said.

"This illustrates that consumers are … Read more

FCC says wireless market is 'concentrated'

The Federal Communications Commission warned Thursday in a new report that the wireless industry is becoming more concentrated.

In its annual report on competition, the FCC reversed years of findings that the market is competitive. The report didn't say that the market is not competitive, rather that it has become more concentrated over recent years.

Specifically, the FCC said since 2003, market concentration has increased 32 percent. The report indicates that 60 percent of the nation's subscribers and revenue come from the country's two largest wireless providers: AT&T and Verizon Wireless. The FCC noted that … Read more

European carriers fighting to unlock the iPhone

The Guardian is reporting that Vodafone is planning to offer an unlocked iPhone in Germany, while Orange (in France) is planning to sell an unlocked version, as French law requires. Vodafone's actions are particularly interesting....

After all, it's T-Mobile that got the exclusive deal with Apple, but Vodafone challenged the deal in a Hamburg court, and The Guardian reports that T-Mobile is now considering selling an unlocked version of the iPhone for a higher price (presumably to appease the court).

Fabrizio may be right: it may be a plot on Vodafone's part to scuttle T-Mobile Germany's … Read more

Samsung tries to frame us, wirelessly

Call us cynical, but we think the world needs another digital picture frame about as much as Caroline McCarthy needs another penguin in her life. But Samsung, which is seems determined to get into every business possible, has come out with a new 7-inch model anyway. (That's the frame, not the 'gwin.)

The SPH-72H can be hooked up to an optional "bolt-on" device that allows the frame to upload photos from Web sites wirelessly and share them with PCs, according to Pocket-lint. It also has a built-in speaker for MP3 tunes, a memory card reader and USB … Read more