AT&T, Rural Wireless Carriers Fight it Out at FCC Over Roaming

AT&T and the Rural Telecommunications Group are trading accusations against each other related to roaming charges. Both organizations sent letters to the Federal Communications Commission outlining their positions.

• The RTG is arguing that AT&T has taken “anticompetitive actions” against RTG’s members that are “contrary to the public interest” by preventing its customers from roaming onto rural carrier networks, even when the customers thereby end up without service in those areas.
• AT&T argues that RTG’s claims are “baseless.” The carrier says it is just trying to save money and that it is not required to support “home-on-home roaming,” which refers to a situation in which Carrier A’s customers are able to roam on Carrier B’s network in an area where Carrier A (in this case, AT&T) has its own facilities.