FCC Will Consider Rates in Commercially Reasonable Roaming

The FCC's Wireless Bureau has issued a declaratory ruling responding to a request by T-Mobile to clarify exactly what it meant by the commercially reasonable standard for evaluating data roaming agreements. T-Mobile asked that the FCC consider a variety of comparables when considering whether a deal was commercially reasonable and the bureau agreed that is what the FCC meant.

T-Mobile asked that the commission consider as at least potentially relevant "whether proffered data roaming rates are substantially in excess of retail rates, international rates, and mobile virtual network operator (MVNO)/resale rates, as well as how proffered data roaming rates compare to domestic data roaming rates charged by other providers."

The FCC said those rates "can" be considered under its "totality of the circumstances" approach.

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John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.