Click here for the ex parte filed on August 2.

In the ex parte, RTG urges the FCC to immediately suspend the informal 180-day review shot clocks for the Verizon Wireless/Cable Company deals until parties have the opportunity to weigh the nine transactions contemplated by AT&T. Consolidation-by-piecemeal is still consolidation, no matter how small each proposed deal is in isolation. How these various proposed transactions involving AT&T impact the wireless sector, and in turn the public interest, can only be gauged by taking a “breather” and reviewing the AT&T deals in the appropriate context of the Verizon/Cable Company transactions. The various existence of marketplace competition is in jeopardy. RTG and its rural carrier members implore the FCC to immediately suspend its review of the various Verizon transactions until a thorough review of the AT&T proposed deals can be examined. If AT&T and Verizon are allowed to proceed with their CMRS spectrum buying binge unchecked, it will spell doomsday for all the remaining wireless carriers trying to keep some semblance of pro-consumer competition for the general public.