Sprint and AT&T Need FCC to Mediate Dispute

Sprint Nextel and AT&T have taken their dispute over access fees for one another’s voice networks all the way to the FCC.

sprint-vs-att.jpg Sprint and AT&T currrently have an agreement wherein two Sprint Nextel subsidiaries have a “bill and keep” deal, meaning that the carriers have agreed not to charge each other for traffic on each other’s networks.  Sprint has said that they wish to apply a government condition that AT&T accepted in 2006 in order to expand their zero-fee coverage all the way into 22 states — an arrangement that would potentially cost AT&T millions of dollars in revenue each year. AT&T’s response has been to claim that Sprint misinterpreted the clause, and they have followed up by complaining directly to the FCC in hopes of coming out on top.

Sprint has stated that they could be investing money saved from the outcome of this dispute into improving their network and in making enhancements to its often-criticized customer service. Impartial observers frustrated with Sprint’s customer service might find themselves suddenly taking a side in this carrier dispute, if only out of hopes that the latter issue will actually be addressed.

Independent telecom analyst Jessica Zufolo has noted that the case holds major financial implications for both companies, as Sprint has found themselves in a tighter situation since the Nextel acquisition. Zufolo has also pointed out that it is unsure which way the ruling on this will go.

Source: Yahoo! Finance

4 responses to “Sprint and AT&T Need FCC to Mediate Dispute”

  1. JJ

    I honestly didn’t know the two could share each other’s networks….

    Unless we’re talking about backbone from sprint towers?

  2. randomperson

    It’s not the towers, but other backend/backhaul things.

  3. blaze

    I dont blame AT&T. They arent in the business to try and help make Sprints customer service better. I think that argument is way out in left field for this problem. They should be able to get good customer service with what they already have. More training when these people start would probably fix a lot of their CS problems.

  4. ryan

    sounds to me, according to the sourced article, that this is an easy win for Sprint. They already got approval at state level, and ATT just doesn’t like it. They should of thought about that before they agreed to the deal in the first place…FCC doesn’t seem to be in the business of taking “sides” in matters of eithics, more than law and contractual oblication.

    blaze, i don’t believe that Sprint is using the CS statment as reason for ruling, but rather, most likely a statement that reinforces that they do have the CS problems in mind.