The Rural Telecommunications Group formally asked the FCC in comments...
The Rural Telecommunications Group formally asked the FCC in comments filed Wednesday in response to the FCC’s September mobile holdings rulemaking notice to reimpose a spectrum cap. RTG called for “bright line spectrum aggregation” limits, including a prohibition on any…
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carrier holding more than 25 percent of “suitable and available” spectrum measured at the county level. “This will ensure that American consumers in all markets benefit from the competitive presence of at least four carriers,” RTG said. “Such a presence should help prevent the competitive harms experienced by American consumers since the FCC’s transition from a spectrum cap to a case-by-case analysis.” The FCC should also limit all carriers to no more than 40 percent of spectrum below 1 GHz in every county, RTG said. In 2008, RTG asked the commission to launch a rulemaking on whether it should reimpose a spectrum cap that was eliminated by the agency in 2003. “The Commission’s reliance on a case-by-case analysis since 2003 has failed to achieve the Commission’s aim of preventing competitive harms,” RTG said. “Other than the egregious case of AT&T’s failed attempt to take over T-Mobile, the Commission has never attempted to block a wireless carrier from acquiring another wireless carrier.”