Public competition mandate
Policy proposals informed by public competition research. Concentration can identify a question worth investigating; it does not establish harm or unlawful conduct.
The role of government is not passive refereeing. It is to protect people from private bottlenecks, hidden gatekeepers, and markets where choice exists only on paper.
Public action triage
The focused market stays first. Screening rank orders attention; it does not measure public harm or establish liability. The agency guideline and Antitrust Radar priority queue remain separate below. Every docket keeps its evidence boundary and government-action lane visible.
FCC + DOJ
People exposed
Households and local businessesCoverage gaps, bundled pricing, and switching friction can leave communities with too few real providers.Government lever
FCC + DOJ access reviewPublish local service, price, coverage, and switching data before accepting claims of effective choice.Evidence boundaryComplete participant shares and residual-category treatment · verified · high confidence
12
profiles
7
HHI >= 2,500
4
data gaps
45
sources
Public duty compact
Evidence to action
Action packet contract
Profile, sources, data, and brief stay linked before anyone sends an ask.
Public duty compact
Public action triage
Public action triage
The focused market stays first. Screening rank orders attention; it does not measure public harm or establish liability. The agency guideline and Antitrust Radar priority queue remain separate below. Every docket keeps its evidence boundary and government-action lane visible.
FCC + DOJ
People exposed
Households and local businessesCoverage gaps, bundled pricing, and switching friction can leave communities with too few real providers.Government lever
FCC + DOJ access reviewPublish local service, price, coverage, and switching data before accepting claims of effective choice.Evidence boundaryComplete participant shares and residual-category treatment · verified · high confidence
Public market launcher
Wireless service
Telecommunications
3,550
HHI
Search engines
Digital platforms
7,359
HHI
Mobile operating systems
Digital platforms
5,337
HHI
Social referrals
Digital platforms
4,995
HHI
01
Start with the lived market people can actually choose from.
02
Show publisher, date, method, and confidence before making claims.
03
Turn evidence into oversight, disclosure, and fair-market rules.
Public record
>1,800
DOJ/FTC Merger Guidelines (2023)
2023 guideline HHI threshold
The agencies' 2023 Merger Guidelines treat markets above this HHI level as highly concentrated.
~80%
FTC-backed PBM profile
PBM prescriptions
The FTC reported the top three PBMs processed nearly four in five U.S. prescriptions in 2023.
49.7%
U.S. Census Bureau
renter cost burden
Census reported nearly half of U.S. renter households spent more than 30% of income on housing costs in 2023.
1.1%
Census HVS Q1 2026
housing vacancy
Census HVS reported a 1.1% homeowner vacancy rate in Q1 2026, a scarcity signal that strengthens the case for local competition evidence.
Government duty queue
Record-to-duty route
Action brief station
The public workflow should start near the top: pick a priority market, inspect the source trail, open the data console, and generate a government-ready brief.
Market in focus
Wireless service
People harmed
United States
Government lever
Track roll-ups, serial acquisitions, vertical restraints, and remedy compliance before concentration hardens further.
HHI 3,550 should move into a public ask that names the affected users, the missing record, and the agency route.
1/3 core metrics; disclose source and confidence limits
Source to action route
HHI
3,550
HHI 3,550
CR4
N/A
four-firm share
Top firm
N/A
single-firm share
Review lane
Immediate review
verified · high confidence
This station makes the advocacy route inspectable before the longer docket: profile, source rows, public data, then a brief people can send to government.
Government duty ledger
This ledger turns the mission into a government work plan: disclose hidden market facts, scrutinize bottlenecks, investigate public harm, and publish reusable evidence.
Public duty route
Evidence moves from data gaps to public obligations.
When public records do not show firm shares or local control, government should require disclosure before people are asked to trust the market.
Published HHI at or above 2,500 should trigger harder questions about switching costs, entry barriers, platform leverage, and whether choice exists in practice.
The action docket turns market evidence into public questions agencies, legislatures, and local officials can inspect.
Every public ask should carry citations, dates, confidence labels, and open data routes so others can challenge or reuse the evidence.
Public action docket
The docket keeps the mission operational: identify where concentrated power harms people, show what evidence is public, name the agency lane, and make the next ask inspectable.
7
markets meeting the published structural review screen
1
markets where concentration or trend signals need continuing pressure
4
markets where the public record is too thin for firm-level accountability
4
profiles where public evidence must be disclosed before claims harden
Evidence-to-action route
Choose the stage that matches the public decision, then inspect the ranked market docket below.
Evidence question
What can the public record prove today?Track roll-ups, serial acquisitions, vertical restraints, and remedy compliance before concentration hardens further.
Public harm
Households and local businesses
Coverage gaps, bundled pricing, and switching friction can leave communities with too few real providers.
Government lever
FCC + DOJ access review
Publish local service, price, coverage, and switching data before accepting claims of effective choice.
Evidence pressure: HHI 3,550
Test whether the dominant firm controls access, switching, pricing, defaults, distribution, or other chokepoints that weaken consumer choice.
Public harm
Users, publishers, and small businesses
Defaults, distribution control, and data lock-in can make switching technically possible but practically weak.
Government lever
FTC/DOJ conduct review
Test defaults, exclusionary distribution, data access, and interoperability remedies against public outcomes.
Evidence pressure: HHI 7,359
Test whether the dominant firm controls access, switching, pricing, defaults, distribution, or other chokepoints that weaken consumer choice.
Public harm
Users, publishers, and small businesses
Defaults, distribution control, and data lock-in can make switching technically possible but practically weak.
Government lever
FTC/DOJ conduct review
Test defaults, exclusionary distribution, data access, and interoperability remedies against public outcomes.
Evidence pressure: HHI 5,337
Test whether the dominant firm controls access, switching, pricing, defaults, distribution, or other chokepoints that weaken consumer choice.
Public harm
Users, publishers, and small businesses
Defaults, distribution control, and data lock-in can make switching technically possible but practically weak.
Government lever
FTC/DOJ conduct review
Test defaults, exclusionary distribution, data access, and interoperability remedies against public outcomes.
Evidence pressure: HHI 4,995
Test whether the dominant firm controls access, switching, pricing, defaults, distribution, or other chokepoints that weaken consumer choice.
Public harm
Users, publishers, and small businesses
Defaults, distribution control, and data lock-in can make switching technically possible but practically weak.
Government lever
FTC/DOJ conduct review
Test defaults, exclusionary distribution, data access, and interoperability remedies against public outcomes.
Evidence pressure: HHI 4,804
Enforcement screen
Use concentration rankings as the opening screen for harder questions about market definition, entry barriers, buyer lock-in, and whether a deal would further close already narrow markets.
Market in focus
Wireless service
HHI 3,550
Require public market-share tables where agencies cite concentration.
HHI, CR4, and top-firm share for the relevant market.
Source confidence, data vintage, and limits before legal claims.
Peer-market comparisons that show whether the market is already an outlier.
Require public market-share tables where agencies cite concentration.
Explain why entry would discipline incumbents if HHI is already high.
Publish remedies in terms people can inspect: prices, choices, switching costs, and access.
HHI, CR4, and top-firm share for the relevant market.
Source confidence, data vintage, and limits before legal claims.
Peer-market comparisons that show whether the market is already an outlier.
Require public market-share tables where agencies cite concentration.
Explain why entry would discipline incumbents if HHI is already high.
Publish remedies in terms people can inspect: prices, choices, switching costs, and access.
Action packet
Target market
Wireless service
Public signal
HHI 3,550
Government ask
Require public market-share tables where agencies cite concentration.
Evidence route
high confidence · verified · Complete participant shares and residual-category treatment
Packet completion
Ready with caveats
5/6 checks ready
Markets where concentration signals, data gaps, or public harm narratives deserve fast public review.
7
Immediate
4
Evidence build
4
Data gaps
Select a screened market and audience. The builder creates a short public comment scaffold with the signal, source posture, data gap, and government ask kept together.
Market
define scope
Evidence
source trail
Ask
government duty
Action
public packet
Evidence route
HHI
3,550
HHI 3,550
CR4
not public
four-firm share
Top firm
not public
single-firm share
Review lane
Immediate review
screening classification
Citable line
Wireless service: HHI 3,550; CR4 not public; top-firm share not public; high confidence; verified.
Screened market
Audience
Submission route
1/3 core metrics; disclose source and confidence limits
Scope
Telecommunications
United States
Government target
Federal
open a public competition inquiry
Source posture
high confidence
verified
Generated packet
To: DOJ, FTC, and sector regulators Subject: Public competition evidence request for Wireless service Antitrust Radar flags Wireless service as immediate review because the public signal is HHI 3,550. The current public record shows HHI 3,550, CR4 not public, and top-firm share not public. Public ask: Track roll-ups, serial acquisitions, vertical restraints, and remedy compliance before concentration hardens further. Recommended action: open a public competition inquiry. Require the evidence needed to make this market inspectable: Complete participant shares and residual-category treatment Source posture: high confidence; verified. This packet is public education and advocacy research, not legal advice.
Audience
DOJ, FTC, and sector regulators
open a public competition inquiry
Signal
HHI 3,550
Immediate review · high confidence
Evidence need
Complete participant shares and residual-category treatment
high confidence; verified
Guardrail
Public education
Review sources and rules before external submission.
Copy the public comment, cite the market signal, open the API route, or seed a notebook with the same selected market.
Notebook starter
const profile = await fetch("/api/public/markets?market=us-mobile-wireless-service").then((response) => response.json());
const observations = await fetch("/api/public/observations?market=us-mobile-wireless-service").then((response) => response.json());
const sources = await fetch("/api/public/sources?market=us-mobile-wireless-service").then((response) => response.json());
console.table(profile.rows);
console.table(observations.rows);
console.table(sources.rows);This is a public education scaffold for advocacy work. Review sources and jurisdiction-specific rules before submitting anything externally.
Policy pressure starts with citations, data status, confidence labels, and market-definition limits.
Open sourcesHHI, CR4, and top-firm share are screens. They are strongest when readers can see what was included and what was withheld.
Review methodsReports should name the data needed, the competition concern, and the public agency or process that can respond.
Read latest briefDonations support more market profiles, better source review, housing competition work, and plain-language explainers for people who need fair markets to feel real.
Antitrust Radar publishes public education and advocacy research. It does not provide legal advice.