roaming agreement
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LightSquared signs roaming agreement with ClearTalk, thumbs nose at industry opposition
For a nascent LTE network beset by GPS interference troubles, LightSquared's rolling right along, snatching up new clients for its wholesale service. The Phil Falcone-backed wireless upstart's just inked a roaming agreement with Flat Wireless' ClearTalk that'll extend nationwide coverage to customers in the small operator's footprint. The deal is the latest in a string of partnerships for the LTE wholesaler that'll see its 4G network roll-out to mostly rural and underserved markets -- barring any industry-mounted obstacles. Behind-the-scenes drama aside, it looks like the company's taking a business as usual approach to its much contested launch. Full PR after the break.
T-Mobile says it couldn't reach a 3G roaming deal with AT&T, AT&T says otherwise
There's a pretty hilarious conversation going on between execs at AT&T and T-Mobile USA's lawyers right now in arguments being made with the FCC as the commission debates data roaming policies -- we don't think it means much in practical terms, but it's a good read nonetheless. In brief, T-Mobile casts the first stone by saying that it "has not been able to achieve a 3G roaming agreement with AT&T" despite the fact that AT&T has established agreements with a number of foreign carriers. AT&T wastes no time firing back a response, saying that it isn't aware of any request to establish such an agreement... and here's where it gets good: they politely remind T-Mobile that the two carriers operate on incompatible 3G spectrum, and therefore AT&T doesn't "have a current desire" to set anything up, but if T-Mobile really wants something, they'll be more than happy to amend their current agreement as such. We suspect this is probably all a misunderstanding on several levels -- T-Mobile's initial argument was filed not by a T-Mobile employee, but by one of its lawyers, and it's entirely reasonable to think that the lawyer didn't realize they had no agreement simply because of the incompatibility (AT&T uses 850 / 1900MHz, T-Mobile uses AWS). Drama!
Verizon keeps buttering up the feds, supports law requiring it to provide more roaming
Rural and regional carriers have been looking for the FCC to bring down the hammer on compulsory roaming from the big players for years now, and in light of the recent investigations into potential anti-competitive practices, Verizon's throwing yet another bone in an apparent effort to be on its best behavior while the scrutiny continues. This time around, the company is proposing that a law be put in effect requiring it to offer smaller carriers two years of guaranteed roaming contracts in areas where those smaller carriers own spectrum but haven't yet built out their network, with certain situations entitling them to a third year. The regionals weren't happy with the handset exclusivity compromise and they don't appear to be happy with this deal, either -- Leap, owner of Cricket, has already come out and complained that Verizon need roaming contracts "over two decades as it built out its network and acquired competitors" and is only offering a couple years in return, so this battle may be far from over.[Via Phone Scoop]
Alltel snags roaming with Sprint-Nextel
Looks like "America's Largest Network" just got larger: Alltel inked a 10 year roaming deal with Sprint-Nextel for CDMA voice, 1xRTT, and EV-DO coverage to complement their own network and their already existent coverage deals with Verizon, and to a lesser extent Cingular, and T-Mo. We're not sure what this brings their square mileage up to nowadays, but if you're an Alltel customer who likes to travel, you're probably pretty stoked, while the rest of you Sprint users get some new friends to share your network with (in addition to Helio).[Via The Wireless Report]
