Bits on Broadband : with Fred Campbell

“The sum of anecdotes is not data.” Roger Brinner (economist).

As someone who took pride in my role overseeing the production of the 12^th CMRS Competition Report, I read with great interest the 14^th Mobile Wireless Competition Report (“14^th Report”). Although I was impressed with many elements of the 14^th Report, I was also perplexed by some of its conclusions. Perhaps the most perplexing aspect of the report is its discussion of spectrum, in which it relies on a number of anecdotes masquerading as data to reach a new “conclusion.”

The new element of the 14^th Report in respect to spectrum is its discussion of the differences between spectrum below 1 GHz and spectrum above 1 GHz. For the first time ever the FCC concludes that “providers whose spectrum assets include a greater amount of spectrum below 1 GHz spectrum may possess certain competitive advantages for providing robust coverage when compared to licensees whose portfolio is exclusively or primarily comprised of higher frequency spectrum.” (14^th Report at paragraph 283.) But the 14^th Report doesn’t include any actual data supporting this “conclusion.” The 14^th Report instead relies on a series of anecdotes to justify its new position, and doesn’t attempt to quantify the extent of any such competitive advantage (assuming one actually exists) at all. Without some data demonstrating that differences in frequency actually yield significant competitive advantages, the “conclusion” is really just a hypothesis. Read the rest of this entry »