Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Will the FCC Read Our Comments?

Yesterday, Wireless Week reported that the FCC has received over 3,000 comments about the acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T. So far, the comments are overwhelmingly against the hookup. One of the concerns is if the FCC will actually read all of those comments. While we advocated making your voice heard, it appears you have a much better chance at the state level. Sprint is actually doing just that by raising objections to the deal with the West Virginia state regulators (we can only guess they're approaching the states in reverse alphabetical order).

Not only do we all have better access to state commissions, we can actually do so in person. If nothing else it might be a local call. These people have a good chance of being your neighbors instead of faceless federal paper pushers. We recently contacted over a dozen of our state legislators and found them surprisingly responsive to both phone calls and emails...it was 100%!

I don't expect anyone here to drive down to speak to your state rep about a wireless merger, but there is a much better chance that your opinion, pro or con, will actually be heard...or read...down at the state capitol. We're looking for a sympathetic ear to insert our comments. We'll report if we find one.

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