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T-Mobile Denies Lying To FCC About Size of Its 4G Network (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: T-Mobile has denied an allegation that it lied to the Federal Communications Commission about the extent of its 4G LTE coverage. A group that represents small rural carriers says that T-Mobile claimed to have 4G LTE coverage in places where it hadn't yet installed 4G equipment. That would violate FCC rules and potentially prevent small carriers from getting network construction money in unserved areas. T-Mobile said the allegations made by the Rural Wireless Association (RWA) in an FCC filing on Friday "are patently false."
"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," T-Mobile wrote. "The organization's repeated disregard for fact-based advocacy is a disrespectful waste of Commission time and resources." RWA members have conducted millions of speed tests at their own expense to determine whether the major carriers' coverage claims are correct. The RWA says both Verizon and T-Mobile have exaggerated coverage, and the FCC is taking the allegations seriously. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced last week that the FCC has begun an investigation and that a preliminary review of speed-test data "suggested significant violations of the Commission's rules." The FCC has not said which carrier or carriers violated the rules.
"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," T-Mobile wrote. "The organization's repeated disregard for fact-based advocacy is a disrespectful waste of Commission time and resources." RWA members have conducted millions of speed tests at their own expense to determine whether the major carriers' coverage claims are correct. The RWA says both Verizon and T-Mobile have exaggerated coverage, and the FCC is taking the allegations seriously. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced last week that the FCC has begun an investigation and that a preliminary review of speed-test data "suggested significant violations of the Commission's rules." The FCC has not said which carrier or carriers violated the rules.
You canâ(TM)t make this stuff up
on the FCC for not actually checking information.
Shame on the carriers for believing their own coverage maps.
The best way to solve this would be to require the carriers to install 4G/5G towers in the areas they lied about with enough towers to cover the entire area.
News at 11!
My friends know of many local dead spots for AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. Do you think any of their coverage maps accurately show their lack of coverage? HELL NO.
Keep the Classic Slashdot.
Coverage providers fudging the network size/service area is old news. For anyone dealing with device/Apps that are used in rural America/fly over country.
;)
What I would really like to know is where has the 100s of millions in fees the government has taken on communications bills over the years for rural network expansion has gone?
For years government has collected rural coverage expansion fees on electric and communications bills. In order to provide additional services in areas having trouble. Heck they still collect fees for rural electric expansion on electric bills. And where in most of rural America is there not electricity.
In a way, I say we just disband the FCC and end all of the electric and communication fees and add on charges. None of the funds are going anywhere useful anyway.
Sure there will be problems and issues. But we have a better chance of a business stepping up to better serve customers that any hope the government will fix anything.
Just my 2 cents
T-Mobile says: "We have coverage here, here, here ..." ..."
Little rural company says: "They lied! They don't have coverage there, there, there,
Should be trivial to check, without even any fancy equipment. Take a T-Mobile 4G phone to there, there, there, ... and make a call. "Can you hear me now?"
Now that both sides are on record, whichever is lying can be fined big time - which will more than pay for the FCC guy making the trip and tests.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Melania? Stormy Daniels? Karen McDougal?
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
It's really how you use it.
it is an alternatively reported size......
Why would they care? They all got paid...
Why single out T-Mobile? All of the big telecoms lie about their coverage in one way, shape, or form. Verizon and AT&T are no strangers to telling lie after lie.
T-Mobile pushing for a merger with Sprint so now is an opportune time to challenge.
Translation: It's on my to-do list, don't look at our maps.
How does pretending something (cell base-stations) doesn't exist, stop it working and stop providing market competition?
Two corporations, each calling the other, dishonest: Wealth and monopoly-power versus grass-roots. Alas, with the US supreme court declaring that corporations are honest, I'll believe the opposite when it's not facing a free market.
That money was given to the big communications coperations as an incentive to get them to pay for equipment upgrade network coverage expansion costs.
At&t lobbied hard to get the money and when it did....promptly declared everything was actually not that bad, that it was awesome in fact, and that there was no need to actually use the money for anything other than paying executive bonuses because they deserved them on account of being suddenly so extremely profitable!
You think I'm making this up? Google it. The only thing worse than bad government is the corperations that bribe them to be that way and the morons who think deregulation is needed for freer free market capitalism not to bend them over and screw them senseless.
Come on, no man would ever lie about the size of this network.
Why do you associate penis with gay? Is it because you hate your mother?