FCC Responds to Congressional Data Roaming Concerns

On March 21, Sens Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) wrote a letter to the Federal Communications Commission with concerns about the roaming obligations of commercial wireless providers. They believe the FCC has the authority to require automatic roaming for wireless data services and help satisfy consumer expectations. The senators note that these issues are particularly acute for rural and remote communities across the country. People in rural and remote areas have far fewer choices and usually pay more than their urban counterparts. The availability of roaming services in these areas at reasonable rates is exceptionally important.

On June 10, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski replied, pointing to the FCC's April 21 order and notice of proposed rulemaking which 1) modifies the automatic roaming obligation that the Commission adopted for voice and related services in 2007, by eliminating the home roaming exclusion, 2) creates a framework for voice roaming that will encourage carriers of all sizes to reach reasonable commercial agreements with each other, while also encouraging these carriers to continue investing in the coverage and capacity of existing voice networks and 3) examines whether to extend roaming obligations to data services that are provided without interconnection to the public switched network - including mobile broadband services.