Competition is ALWAYs good when it comes to technology.
Competition is only good to consumers in terms of price.
Quality ALWAYS suffers when technology is subjected to competition.
Look at the Betamax vs. VHS issue.
Sony had superior quality, but was forced out of the market because anybody, and everybody, could produce a VHS recorder.
As the lower-quality VHS machines gained marketshare, based solely on price, video stores began reducing the selections available in Beta format.
This started a death spiral, that led to the demise of the superior quality format.
With regard to cell phones, my old analog-only Nokia gave me better reception, with a much better range, than the analog/digital LG that I'm currently using.
I actually had to switch back down from a digital-only phone because I couldn't keep a call going in my house, and couldn't get a call out anywhere that I hunt.
I live right in the geographic center of my town, and only about 1/2 mile from the freeway, BTW.
Now they are talking about eliminating analog completely in the near future, which is going to leave me SOL.
That "advance" is driven by competition.
They can pack more calls into the same bandwidth with digital.
They are offering WORSE service for the same price--so that they can remain "competitive".
There is no regard for the customer, just their own bottom line.