WASHINGTON-Mobile-phone carriers served more than 10 million more customers in the first half of 2005 than wireline carriers, according to the semi-annual local competition report released by the Federal Communications Commission April 3.
Wireline carriers served 178.2 million lines, while 191.3 million people used mobile phones as of June 30, 2005. The FCC said about 6 percent of these subscribers were customers of wireless resellers.
The FCC requires all carriers to submit a one-page questionnaire every six months. The number of mobile-phone carriers reporting more than doubled from 76 to 154 because previously reports were only required from carriers with more than 10,000 customers. Carriers with fewer than 10,000 customers were required to submit the report beginning last year. The number of wireline carriers reporting more than tripled with the reporting requirement change.
In a companion report, the FCC said that high-speed and advanced-service connections increased 32.3 percent for the first half of 2005. High-speed is defined as exceeding 200 kilobits per second in one direction; advanced-service lines have speeds exceeding 200 kbps in both directions. Mobile wireless provided an almost statistically insignificant amount of the advanced-service lines. The FCC said .5 percent of the advanced-services were offered by satellite, wireless and electric power lines combined. This number grew to 1.1 percent for high-speed lines.
Information is reported on a zip-code basis with broadband available in 98 percent of the zip codes.
