AT&T, Verizon Slam NTCH Roaming Complaint
AT&T sharply criticized a proposal by NTCH asking the FCC to require carriers to publicly disclose roaming rates agreed to in privately negotiated commercial contracts. In July, NTCH asked the FCC rescind a decision to forbear from enforcement of the provision of Section 211 of the Communications Act requiring common carriers to file their rates and terms with the commission (http://bit.ly/1kSl8pl).
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NTCH is “confused,” AT&T said in its opposition. NTCH’s petition isn’t really about forbearance, AT&T said (http://bit.ly/1pH9TA6). “NTCH is really requesting that the Commission impose entirely new rules on voice and data roaming carriers. Its filing, however, does not meet the most basic requirements for initiating a new rulemaking.” The opposition was filed in RM-11723, posted by the agency Tuesday.
Verizon also filed an opposition to the petition (http://bit.ly/1oOpjUb), suggesting NTCH’s petition was “virtually identical” to a filing the carrier made in November: “At bottom, NTCH continues to ignore the Commission’s longstanding roaming policies, including strong incentives for carriers to expand facilities-based networks and support for the other pro-competitive benefits that flow from forbearance from Section 211."
The Rural Wireless Association said the FCC should require all carriers to file roaming agreements at the agency. “Doing so would provide the Commission with a complete record from which it can ascertain the health of the roaming market,” RWA said (http://bit.ly/1vdKU8z). If the FCC had more data available, it could determine whether roaming rates “are in fact ‘just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory’ and that data roaming terms and conditions are ‘commercially reasonable,'” RWA said.
Small carrier NTelos also asked the FCC to require providers to file roaming data. “The effective dominance of the wholesale roaming market by two carriers, AT&T and Verizon, demonstrates that there is not ’sufficient competition’ in the wholesale roaming marketplace,” NTelos said (http://bit.ly/1pIuTXu).