FCC cuts home-roaming exclusion, looking at data roaming, USF reform

The Federal Communications Commission yesterday eliminated the highly-contentious home roaming exclusion for mobile services that had allowed carriers to decline roaming requests from other operators if that requesting operator offered voice services in the market it was requesting the roaming agreement.

 

“By eliminating the exclusion, the order encourages carriers of all sizes to reach commercially reasonable voice roaming agreements, and promotes competition, fosters innovation and empowers consumers, while creating a fair process for the commission to handle disputes that may arise in an expedited and equitable manner,” the FCC said in its decision, adding: “The commission will address any disputes on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the totality of the circumstances presented to determine whether requiring a roaming agreement would best further the public interest goals.”

 

The FCC noted that the decision also encompasses those carriers requesting push-to-talk roaming agreements, a major project for regional carrier SouthernLINC, which has said it has been unable to sign a deal that would allow its customers to use their iDEN-based PTT services with Sprint Nextel Corp. when roaming outside of their coverage area.

 

The decision is seen as a victory for smaller carriers that for years have complained that larger rivals have kept them from offering roaming services to their customers in larger markets if the smaller carrier controlled spectrum in those markets, but had not yet built out a network.

 

“This is a huge step forward for small rural and regional carriers,” said Rural Cellular Association President and CEO Steven Berry. “RCA has worked diligently on this issue, and we are pleased the FCC has taken action to eliminate the in-market exception.”

 

Larger carriers have often argued that they should not be required to offer roaming services to a rival that controls unused spectrum in a market as it encourages those operators to push off building out their networks.

 

The FCC also said it would begin seeking input on whether it should extend roaming obligations to data services. This has also been a pet peeve of smaller carriers that claim larger rivals have in many cases refused to offer roaming services beyond basic voice offerings to the detremint of their customer base.

 

In a separate announcement, the FCC said it has begun the process of attempting to reform the Universal Service Fund “from supporting networks providing plain old telephone service into an effective and efficient tool for making affordable, high-quality broadband communications service available to all Americans.”

 

The FCC said it has launched a Notice of Inquiry and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to begin implementing the plan that was laid out in the recent National Broadband Plan the commission sent to Congress last month.

 

The FCC said the NOI is asking for public comment “on the use of an economic model to precisely target support for areas where there is no private-sector business case for carriers to provide broadband and voice services.” The model is to estimate the difference in cost of deploying broadband to underserved areas and the potential additional revenues generated from the broadband deployment.

 

With the NPRM, the FCC is seeking comment on proposals to cut legacy universal service spending in high-cost areas and to shift support to broadband communications. These proposals include capping the overall size of the program at 2010 levels; re-examining the current regulatory framework for smaller carriers in light of competition and growth in unregulated revenues; and phasing out support for multiple competitors in areas that cannot support even a single competitor.