Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T) Fight Back Against FCC Roaming Decision

Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T (NYSE:T) are fighting back against the decision by the FCC to adopt automatic data roaming rules, which allow competitors unwilling to invest in wireless infrastructure to use theirs.

Tom Tauke, Verizon Communications' executive vice president of public affairs, policy and communications, said in a statement, "By forcing carriers that have invested in wireless infrastructure to make those networks available to competitors that avoid this investment, at a price ultimately determined by the FCC, today's order discourages network investment in less profitable areas. That is directly contrary to the interests of rural America and the development of facilities-based competition and potential job creation. Therefore, it is a defeat for both consumers and the innovation fostered by true competition."

Expectations are Verizon will probably legally challenge the decision.

For AT&T, they're in the midst of attempting to acquire T-Mobile USA, and so unfortunately will have to walk softly, as the implications are if they fight too hard the deal may be rejected.

It does make you wonder if the timing of the FCC was based on that event.

Verizon was trading at $37.71, falling $0.05, or 0.13 percent, as of 12:13 PM EDT. AT&T was at $30.52, down $0.02, or 0.05 percent.

Comcast (CMCSA) and Level 3 (LVLT) Battling it Out Behind the Scenes

The battle between Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and Level 3 (NASDAQ:LVLT) hasn't abated in any way, it has just removed itself from the public eye and is being pressed on the FCC.

Big headlines about the dispute between Level 3 Communications and Comcast over the latter's access charges may have subsided, but don't let that fool you. Like so many telecom wars, this one has migrated to the antechambers of the Federal Communications Commission. There, both sides are battling over whether the feud comes under the FCC's authority via its still-unofficial net neutrality rules.

"It would be ironic and unfortunate if, as we begin the era of growing broadband connectivity and use, the Commission effectively abdicated jurisdiction over broadband Internet services in a way that reduces choice and openness for the American consumer," Level 3 is warning the agency.

Au contraire, insists Comcast. "This has been, is, and will remain a dispute about the terms of an existing arrangement for network interconnection. It is not properly before this Commission."





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Verizon (VZ) Pressured to Investigate ‘Alarming’ Number of Dropped 911 Calls

U.S. regulators said Verizon Communications Inc.’s (VZ) networks may have dropped a “truly alarming” number of wireless emergency calls during a snow storm last month, and asked the carrier to investigate.

Reports indicate Verizon’s network failed to connect 10,000 calls to 911 numbers in Washington’s suburbs during the Jan. 26 storm, the Federal Communications Commission said in a letter to the carrier today that was released by e-mail.

“We are particularly concerned that this problem may be widespread across Verizon’s footprint,” Jamie Barnett, chief of the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, said in the letter. The agency wants Verizon to investigate the extent of the problem across its network, he said.

“We have been addressing this issue directly with the counties involved, and will work cooperatively to address the FCC’s questions, as well,” Harry Mitchell, a Verizon spokesman, said in an e-mail. The outage, which affected Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland, was triggered by a “mass call event,” Mitchell said.

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