Compromise Possible on Roaming Rules Revision
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin seems willing to negotiate on at least one key element in proposed revisions to agency automatic roaming rules now under consideration - the length of the period during which the FCC would lift the in-market exclusion once it grants a license. The item revising roaming rules was expected to be on Friday’s sunshine notice for next week’s FCC meeting, though it could be pulled prior to the meeting. Attention has enveloped the roaming item due to Verizon Wireless’s proposed acquisition of Alltel, a key roaming provider for many carriers.
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The order would lift the exclusion the first four years of a license, Martin told a press conference. Some carriers want that to be extended to 10 years. Martin seems to be digging in his heels on other changes but may be willing to negotiate on this one issue, industry officials said. An FCC spokesman declined comment Friday.
“That’s a key area of discussion” and was among elements in a counterproposal floated by FCC Democratic commissioners, a wireless carrier official said. It’s the change Martin “appears most open to,” a second industry official said.
The in-market exclusion provides that a carrier need not honor a roaming request by a counterpart with spectrum in a market, even if that spectrum has yet to be cleared by the government, a process that can be lengthy. The exclusion, which got little eighth floor heed as the order was being finalized, startled the industry. FCC officials said that when they approved the exclusion they wanted to encourage carriers to build out licenses they had bought rather than rely on roaming (CD Aug 8/07 p1).
Most carriers pushing for roaming reform want the item delayed, as do Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein. A few would prefer to see a vote on the item this week, provided they can get the rule revised, even if the exclusion remains in some form. One FCC official said a vote on the item could be delayed for weeks, but should not be tied to the Verizon Wireless-Alltel merger, as some carriers want.
“There’s a lot of significant new information coming into the proceeding, particularly in light of the Alltel- Verizon [merger],” a wireless industry official said. “The most prudent course is to step back and examine the reasoning underlying the in-market exclusion.” AT&T, Leap Wireless, SouthernLINC, MetroPCS and U.S. Cellular and other carriers reported meetings on roaming at the FCC in recent days.