CTIA Challenges FCC's Use of Antitrust Yardstick in Competition Report

摘要

The FCC’s wireless competition report cites a Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) increase as a nclear warning sign that the industry has grown less competitive. But CTIA questions the ncommission’s reliance on the index as one of the key measures in the report, the first in years nthat didn't find the industry competitive. The U.S. industry's weighted average index was n2848 in 2008, up from 2674 the previous year and an increase of almost 700 points since 2003, nthe FCC said. "The DOJ antitrust guidelines consider a market to be ‘highly concentrated’ if nthe post-merger HHI exceeds 1800," the report notes. Commissioner Michael Copps said the nincrease "sticks out like a sore thumb."