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Sprint, looking to fight the AT&T and T-Mobile merger, joins the Rural Carrier Association

Categories: Sprint
By: , IntoMobile
Thursday, April 21st, 2011 at 12:39 AM

Sprint is America’s third largest operator and the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile has them running scared. Dan Hesse (pictured above), Sprint’s current CEO, doesn’t want to see the deal go through, and he’s doing everything in his power to make sure that the U.S. government doesn’t put his company in a position of being more of an underdog than it already is. He knows he can’t go about this battle alone though, so he’s just made the announcement that Sprint is going to Rural Carrier Association. The RCA, as it’s better known, represents over 100 small operators that who have a wireless footprint that covers 80% of America. From their headquarters in Washington D.C., they make sure that the White House, Congress, the FCC, and other policy makers, pay attention to their needs and don’t bend over backwards for Verizon and AT&T. With Sprint joining the RCA, they now have a better shot at killing the AT&T/T-Mobile deal, but it’s still too early to tell if it’s going to have any impact on the decision.

Vonya McCann, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for Sprint, said: “The competitive carriers who make up the RCA are engines of innovation in the wireless industry. At Sprint, we have many issues of mutual concern with RCA members and we look forward to advocating for policies that promote competition and a level playing field across the wireless industry.”

Hu Meena, President & CEO of Cellular South and the 2011/2012 Chairman of the RCA Board said: “We are pleased that Sprint has become an RCA member and that they will join our efforts to provide a vibrant wireless marketplace for consumers throughout the entire nation. I call on all other competitive carriers to join our fight to restore competition in the market and pull the industry back from the brink of a duopoly.”

The next 12 months are going to be fun to watch. Think AT&T and T-Mobile will actually merge?

About The Author

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

  • Anonymous

    RCA and Sprint wanted to kill T-Mobile, not AT&T.

  • Lyalcross1980

    I hope not.