On August 17, 2018, the Rural Wireless Association, Inc. (“RWA”) joined ten other organizations in filing a motion with the Federal Communications Commission to stop the informal 180-day clock until T-Mobile and Sprint supplement their public interest statement to “adequately describe the extensive spectrum aggregation that will result from the proposed transaction.” In the alternative, the organizations requested an extension of the deadline from August 27 to September 17.

RWA respectfully disagrees with the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau’s decision to deny this motion. A delay is warranted, particularly in light of the fact that the Commission has requested additional information from T-Mobile and Sprint relevant to the submission of a petition to deny. The Commission requested that responses be submitted by September 5 – more than a week after the August 27 petition to deny deadline.

RWA remains very concerned about the proposed merger and negative impact that the inevitable reduction in competitive carriers will have on rural consumers.