Rep. Chabot worries AT&T deal will hurt small carriers

Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) is concerned the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile could hurt regional and rural carriers.

In a letter he sent Thursday to the heads of the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department, Chabot did not take a position on the deal, but said his concerns “warrant careful examination.”

Chabot noted that regional carriers rely on roaming agreements with national carriers to provide service when their customers travel outside of their service areas.

“If the merger goes through, a vast amount of the most valuable spectrum for deployment of advanced services will be controlled by one carrier,” Chabot wrote. “In addition, elimination of the alternative roaming partner for the regional and rural providers that utilize GSM technology will greatly impact the regional and rural wireless providers.”

Chabot said small carriers drive the economy through their investments in infrastructure and job creation. 

“The regional and rural carriers have become an important part of the competitive national wireless mosaic,” Chabot wrote.

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