WASHINGTON—Small and regional wireless carriers petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to conduct a special inquiry designed to collect and inspect a representative sample of wireless roaming agreements on a confidential basis.
Airpeak Communications L.L.C., Airtel Wireless L.L.C., Cleveland Unlimited Inc., Leap Wireless International Inc., MetroPCS Communications Inc., Punxsutawney Communications, Rural Telecommunications Group Inc. and Southern Communications Inc. said the FCC probe would aid the agency in an ongoing proceeding to assess the state of wireless roaming in light of the merger wave that has reduced to four the number of national mobile-phone operators.
The wireless operators seeking the FCC inquiry said local, rural and regional carriers are on record stating they have serious difficulties obtaining fair roaming agreements. The FCC launched a re-examination of wireless roaming after the issue was prominently raised during the agency’s consideration of Sprint Corp.’s acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc. in 2005.
“Consolidation in the commercial wireless carrier market seems to have exacerbated the situation, with several non-national carriers having found it necessary to bring roaming pricing and discrimination problems to the commission’s attention in the course of recent merger proceedings,” the wireless carriers stated. They added that many large cellular operators are not in a position to disclose voluntarily and publicly details of current roaming agreements because of contractual restrictions or other limitations to disclosure.
Sample wireless roaming agreements kept confidential by the FCC would help regulators determine whether discrimination is occurring and whether there is a need to mandate automatic roaming requirements at just and reasonable rates, the wireless carriers said.
