T-Mobile defends FCC from AT&T attack

T-Mobile defended the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in a statement on Friday, criticizing AT&T for the first time since the companies abandoned their plan to merge.

In a blog post on Friday, AT&T said the FCC should not have the power to set conditions for proposed auctions of airwave licenses. The post accused the FCC of being "adamant about preserving and enhancing its own power."  

But T-Mobile stepped in to defend the FCC from AT&T's attack.  

“T-Mobile strongly supports the Chairman’s ongoing efforts to obtain incentive auction authority and to make more spectrum available for the mobile industry," T-Mobile said in a statement. "Spectrum is the ‘life blood’ of the wireless industry and in a world of scarce spectrum opportunities, it is vital the FCC, as the expert agency, have the ability to design auctions to ensure robust competition exists for consumers."   

The proposed law would authorize the FCC to auction airwaves, or spectrum, that currently belong to television broadcasters, splitting some of the revenue with the stations that choose to participate.

The spectrum is potentially worth billions of dollars to wireless carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile, which are struggling to meet the growing data demands of smartphones and tablet computers.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski argues that Congress should not prevent his agency from imposing conditions to ensure that the auctions do not enable the largest carriers to consolidate their control of the airwaves and squelch competition.

AT&T and Verizon are the largest national carriers, and T-Mobile is the smallest. 

AT&T announced plans to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion in March 2011, but opposition from the Justice Department and the FCC forced the companies to abandon the deal last month.

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