The statement below may be attributed to Carri Bennet, RTG’s General Counsel.

The Rural Telecommunications Group, Inc. (RTG) applauds the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC or Commission) announcement earlier today that new rules will allow for the use of consumer and industrial signal boosters, so long as those devices include safeguards that protect mobile networks from harmful interference.  Signal boosters have proven to be useful in expanding mobile coverage in rural and hard-to-cover areas of the country.  Many rural mobile users, including public safety personnel, rely on signal boosters to make and receive calls.  RTG has long supported the ability of rural consumers to enhance the performance of their mobile devices through the use of signal boosters so long as they do not contribute to the degradation of the serving carrier’s mobile network performance.  The FCC appears to have done an admirable job of both promoting the interests of rural consumers and protecting the integrity of licensed network operators.

About RTG – Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Rural Telecommunications Group, Inc. (RTG) is a trade association representing rural wireless carriers who each serve less than 100,000 subscribers. RTG’s members have joined together to speed delivery of new, efficient and innovative telecommunications technologies to remote and underserved communities.ruraltelecomgroup.org @RTGwireless