T-Mobile Wants Clarity on Montana Buildout Requirements
T-Mobile asked the FCC to “act quickly” to dismiss an application for review by the Rural Wireless Association of 700 MHz buildout rules for Montana. In December, the Wireless Bureau provided a waiver to Bresnan Communications, which plans to assign…
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three licenses, covering parts of Montana and Wyoming, to T-Mobile (see 1612210038). The RWA sought review, saying that “the Waiver Letter stands in conflict with FCC regulation, past precedent, and public policy, and establishes a harmful precedent which should be overturned.” Steve Sharkey, T-Mobile vice president-government affairs technology and engineering policy, said he spoke with Roger Noel, chief of the bureau’s Mobility Division, and Rachel Bender, aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The RWA objection “is without merit and merely reiterates arguments correctly rejected” by the bureau, said a Monday filing by Sharkey. “Finality in this proceeding is critical because T-Mobile has already begun to expend significant resources to meet the aggressive performance requirements” in the letter decision, he wrote, “delivering much needed competition for wireless services to rural areas in Montana.” RWA’s application for review raised “serious” issues “not properly addressed in the Bureau’s decision,” emailed Caressa Bennet, its counsel. “While RWA understands T-Mobile’s desire for certainty, the public interest demands enforcement of the FCC’s construction requirements to prevent spectrum warehousing. ... T-Mobile has sat on other spectrum in Montana and could have used that spectrum to build out Montana." AT&T, Verizon and "several rural carriers already provide LTE service in Montana," she continued, making T-Mobile the third or fourth competitor.