Data Roaming Requirement Slammed by Big Carriers
AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel told the FCC that imposing data roaming requirements on wireless carriers would go against agency policy and a commission declaration that wireless broadband is an information service subject to light-handed regulation. But small carriers said they need the same kinds of roaming agreements with other carriers for data that they have for voice, and the agency should impose a mandate.
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“Such an obligation would stifle investment in and deployment of wireless broadband Internet access services as well as undermine mobile broadband network management,” AT&T said. “Market-based roaming agreements offer none of these drawbacks, but instead permit efficient network investment and management, which is particularly important in this area, considering that bandwidth-intensive roaming usage could overwhelm a hosting carrier’s network.”
AT&T said that without the “flexibility permitted by market-based roaming solutions,” carriers like it could face “substantial, unplanned costs” as they change their networks to accommodate additional traffic or have to sacrifice the quality of service across their networks. AT&T also said there are “statutory” reasons not to impose a roaming obligation, since the agency has classified wireless broadband as an information service.
“The wireless broadband order was unequivocal,” Sprint agreed. “Broadband Internet access providers are not required to make the transmission component of their networks available to others, including ISPs such as a home carrier. The wireless broadband order thus decides the very question the Commission posed in its data roaming NPRM.”
The WCA said the FCC should keep in mind how much compliance with the roaming requirement would cost carriers. “Imposition of an automatic roaming obligation would, among other things, require wireless broadband providers to substantially expand their ‘back office’ to ensure that all roamers on their networks are fully accounted for and that their service providers are properly charged for the network usage of roamers,” the group said.
But small carriers said data roaming is critical to serving customers that demand data as well as voice. “Regulations requiring data roaming promote the public interest by ensuring that consumers in rural and remote areas will have access to wireless broadband services, just like their counterparts in urban areas,” said SouthernLINC. “Why should a customer with a BlackBerry device, for example, be denied access to e-mail simply because one CMRS carrier refuses to negotiate an automatic roaming agreement with another?” Leap Wireless asked in its comments.
“An expanded definition of the services subject to the Commission’s automatic roaming requirement will enable more consumers, especially those residing in high cost rural areas, to enjoy the benefits of the rapidly growing market for mobile data and broadband services,” the Rural Telecommunications Group and the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunication Companies said in comments. “As the Commission’s automatic roaming proceeding moves forward, so does the pace of CMRS industry consolidation, providing justification for additional automatic roaming mandates.”