T-Mobile Should Stop Complaining and Start Investing in Rural America

[Commentary] T-Mobile filed a petition to deny a spectrum acquisition by AT&T in three rural cellular market areas (CMAs) in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. The purchase will give AT&T the needed spectrum footprint to deploy up to a 10×10 MHz LTE network in these markets, which will enable AT&T to offer faster and higher quality services to its rural customers. The proposed transaction also has no adverse competitive effects. AT&T will not exceed the Federal Communications Commission’s spectrum aggregation screen and -- because the spectrum at issue currently sits completely fallow and unused -- the deal will not reduce any actual competition. Yet, T-Mobile complains, arguing that AT&T should not be permitted to buy and deploy this fallow spectrum and that AT&T should not be allowed to invest in these rural communities to deploy high quality LTE services. Instead it is spending resources on trying to block AT&T from investing in rural America. I guess un-investment in un-urban markets is the un-carrier thing to do.