Wireless communications equipment markets:Evolution, classification, and measurement

A central concern of many policy debates has been to foster more innovative wireless markets. How can policymakers assess whether this objective has been achieved? One measure of successful innovation is an increase in the breadth of markets addressed by new products. Existing product taxonomies, such as the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), require new products to fit into legacy categories. Thus, they may fail to fully measure the development of new products from emerging wireless markets. This study proposes an experimental product code based on the compliance and certification applications for over 200,000 wireless devices in the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Equipment Authorization System (EAS) database from 1982 to 2021. The taxonomy was developed using a novel methodology, in which key phrases from application product descriptions were matched to product categories. The product code is inspired by, but diverges from, the NAICS codes. It comprises three levels of nested product aggregation: 26 Classes, 83 Families, and 298 Types, offering unique avenues to analyze the cross-market scope of wireless technology over decades. The study shows that the breadth of markets for wireless products has grown over time, particularly in areas supported by unlicensed spectrum and corresponding standards, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.