T-Mobile USA has become the latest major carrier to join the Rural Cellular Association. The RCA is devoted to represent the interests of carriers that have less than 10 million subscribers, though those with more, such as T-Mobile, can be affiliate members. Sprint joined the RCA last year.
The Rural Cellular Association and small carriers may have won a small victory in its request to have the FCC take a look at the proposed AT&T buy of MediaFLO and T-Mobile spectrum. The FCC said it will "consider them in a coordinated manner at this time." The carriers want the industry watchdog to consider the two acquisitions as a whole rather than separately, as they would have a large effect on the competitive market.
The FCC on Thursday held its promised vote on data roaming at a monthly meeting. It voted 3-2 along party lines with Democrat agency officials in favor and the two Republicans repeating their support of corporate interests through objections. The deal will require that large carriers have to strike data roaming deals with smaller carriers on reasonable terms.
An informal coalition of smaller US carriers has pushed for the FCC to require data roaming agreements with AT&T and Verizon. Sprint, T-Mobile, Cricket, and carriers in the Rural Cellular Association have argued that they need a guarantee their subscribers can run data on these networks, not just voice, when they can't be on their native networks. They asked the FCC to "promptly move forward" and were hoping to get it on the FCC's meeting agendas as soon as April, Politico said.
