The FCC disclosed today that more Americans signed up for wireless devices like cell phones in 2005 than to land based access lines. 195 million Americans bought new wireless services, up from a previous count of 97 million.

The figures were released at this year's first Open Commission meeting, to which all four Commissioners attended.

In addition, FCC data indicates that Americans use their cell phones more than ever, their average minutes of use (MOUs) almost tripling to 623 MOUs a month. The price of wireless service per minute dropped in 2005 from 20 to 8 cents a minute.

The Commission praised itself for this reported growth. "Primary reliance on competition rather than regulation to safeguard wireless consumers has continued the rapid and strikingly successful development of the mobile wireless industry," one senior FCC official declared during her presentation.

The FCC auctioned out 2,567 wireless licenses last year; the winners paid over 2 billion dollars for these frequencies. Since the start of the auction program, bidders have paid over $14.5 billion to the government for permits.

The FCC's four commissioners heard reports today from seven bureaus, among them enforcement, wireless, engineering, international, and government affairs.

It was FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate's first open meeting, and she brought a sense of humor to the proceeding. "I’m sure that everyone is not surprised that I’m [sitting] at the far right," noted Tate, a Republican from Tennessee, "and so I’ll borrow a line from Johnny Cash as well. 'I walk the line.'"

In her opening statement Tate pledged to work ". . . to eliminate unnecessary economic regulation, create incentives for both investment and innovation, keeping in mind those that we serve."

Copps says Internet access for Native Americans "almost non-existent"

The Commission's two Democrats were less sanguine about the FCC's progress at today's Open Commission meeting. Following a report about the Commission's efforts to improve emergency telecommunications services, Michael Copps warned that the agency had "a long way to go."

"We know the hurricanes are going to come again," Copps commented. "The latest terrorist tape yesterday tells us of their intention to come again. And we need to be sure that we do everything we possibly can to prepare for those eventualities."

Copps also decried the state of cyberspace access in "Indian country." "Even the basic telephone penetration rates are no where close to where they should be," he commented, "leave alone bringing the wonders of the Internet, which is almost nonexistent for most Native Americans. So we've got a lot of work to do there."

Following a report on compliance enforcement, Democrat Jonathan Adelstein commented on the recent reports that cell phone companies are selling user data in violation of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. "It’s critical that we shut down any abuses of our current rules and consider what additional safeguards might be necessary because these types of violations are so personal to people and they feel that their personal space in invaded," Adelstein said at today's hearing. "Everybody feels threatened by the thought that somebody could be doing that."

FCC Chair Kevin Martin predicted that "telephone records is going to be a busy year on the enforcement side " in 2006.

2005 data

At today's Open Commission meeting, FCC officials released the following statistics on telecommunications trends, as well as on its own activities:

• Wireless companies created 225,162 jobs in the U.S. in 2005; up 41 percent.
• Wireless companies generated $56 billion in revenue in 2005, up 126 percent.
• There are 1,550 digital broadcasters in the United States.
• There are 23 million cable broadband subscribers.
• The FCC handled 2,442,343 complaints and inquiries in 2005, over a million and a half of them sent via e-mail.