CompetitiveCarriersAssociation
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Sprint's partnering with smaller carriers for coast-to-coast LTE coverage
Instead of building its own coverage infrastructure in areas where the deer and antelope play, Sprint is teaming up with smaller carriers to create a cross-country roaming network. At its conference tomorrow, the Competitive Carrier Association (CCA) is expected to announce the launch of its Data Access Hub and a partnership with Sprint, which will create a coast-to-coast 4G network that's comprised of many smaller regional networks that are all stitched together. As CNET tells it, this could give Sprint (and possibly T-Mobile, should it join) customers access to rural data networks -- areas that are typically dead zones -- and those on the rural networks would gain access to urban LTE coverage; the street would go both ways here it seems. The CCA's president, Steve Berry, says that the reasoning behind the shift is simple: it'd take billions of dollars and several years for the Now network or the magenta carrier to build their own rural coverage areas to rival the likes of AT&T and Verizon. This move could help level the playing field for the smaller carriers, he says, and possibly provide a better experience for pretty much everyone involved. [Image credit: Rennett Stowe / Flickr]
Rural Cellular Association rebrands as Competitive Carriers Association, mirrors its move to the big city
What's in a name? Quite a bit, if you ask the Rural Cellular Association. It's becoming the Competitive Carriers Association to reflect a membership shift from smaller providers that often serve the countryside to a much more urbane roster that includes Clearwire, Sprint and T-Mobile, on top of grown-up existing members. Not surprisingly given the advocacy group's recent bedfellows, the name switch also emphasizes the attempt to resist a consolidation of power in US telecom -- CCA membership is limited to carriers with under 80 million subscribers, which conveniently excludes heavyweights AT&T and Verizon. Although rebranding is a symbolic gesture first and foremost, the group is no doubt hoping the name will make its intentions clearer the next time a big spectrum swap rolls around.