T-Mobile says it did not submit false broadband coverage data to the FCC for its Mobility Fund Phase II reverse auction. It urged the Commission to disregard such claims from the Rural Wireless Association.
The RWA told the agency T-Mobile overstated its 4G LTE coverage, Inside Towers reported. The FCC is investigating whether any carriers did, and has suspended the map challenge process in the meantime. T-Mobile says in a recent filing it’s not been contacted in the probe and “has no reason to believe” it’s involved.
“RWA’s vague and irresponsible statements regarding T-Mobile’s MF-II maps are unsupported by any evidence and are patently false,” says the carrier. “RWA’s misrepresentations are part of an ongoing pattern of baseless allegations by the organization against T-Mobile designed to delay or thwart competition in rural America and deprive rural Americans of meaningful choice for broadband services.”
The maps are the key for Mobility Fund II, which would allocate up to $4.53 billion over the next decade to advance high-speed mobile broadband service in rural areas that would not be served without government support. RWA also urged the Commission to prohibit carriers who filed overstated coverage or false coverage from participating in the MF-II reverse auction and to order those carriers to pay the costs incurred by entities that participated in the challenge process. Comments? Email Us.
December 19, 2018
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