FCC declares that USA’s wireless competition problem has been solved

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The Federal Communications Commission today declared that there is "effective competition" in the United States' mobile wireless market, a finding that could influence how the FCC regulates wireless carriers and whether it approves mergers such as a possible combination of T-Mobile USA and Sprint.

The FCC is required to report annually on the state of wireless competition, but during each year of the Obama administration it declined to make a finding on whether the market benefits from effective competition. The FCC had declared the market competitive during George W. Bush's presidency and is now returning to that finding with Republicans once again controlling the White House and the FCC.

The change, adopted in a 3-2 vote, comes as T-Mobile and Sprint are reportedly deep into merger talks. It wouldn't be the first time that two of the four major nationwide carriers tried to consolidate.

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