AT&T this week has called out Sprint for taking advantage of roaming rule changes in markets where it owns spectrum. A policy called the Home Market Rule set by the Federal Communications Commission prevented carriers from creating roaming agreements when they had the spectrum or the ability to use their own networks.
Sprint announced recently that it would be using roaming to cover large portions of Kansas and Oklahoma in lieu of building its own network. AT&T’s Bob Quinn said that,
“If a carrier owned spectrum, it was good public policy to require them to build out that spectrum and therefore they should not be able to demand roaming from other carriers in those home markets.”
Sprint responded that its Network Vision initiative has double the investment the carrier is making in its network. Spokesperson John Taylor said,
“It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that AT&T wants to challenge a consumer’s right to access email, the Internet and other mobile broadband services wherever they may travel in the U.S. Along with Verizon Wireless, AT&T is the only other wireless carrier in America which opposes the FCC’s pro-consumer data roaming decision from last year.”
The Home Market Rule was overturned in 2010, though is still being appealed.
Source: BGR
Mickey Papillon
Joey Koppes
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