Verizon Wireless lost an appeal that sought to overturn the FCC’s 2011 roaming agreement rule. This FCC mandate requires mobile carriers to offer roaming agreements to its competitors at commercially reasonable rates. Verizon objected to this rule and unsuccessfully argued that the Federal Communications Commission did not have the authority to enforce this rule.
The appeals court did not agree and ruled unanimously against Verizon. In its decision, the court said that the agreement was well within the FCC’s jurisdiction. Judge David Tatel was particular scathing when he wrote that “Verizon may choose not to provide mobile-Internet service,” if it doesn’t want to adhere to this rule.
[VIa Reuters]