The FCC, in seeking to preserve homegrown competition, has reportedly found that T-Mobile USA is in violation of federal regulations that limit foreign ownership of US-based companies to 20% or less. Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s parent company, has been served with a notice from the FCC informing them that “T-Mobile USA’s level of foreign ownership through the existing ownership structure appears to be in violation” of federal law.
T-Mobile is said to had agreed to create joint venture for rural wireless service in partnership with Verizon Wireless. The venture, Alliance Wireless, was supposed to help T-Mobile comply with federal regulations. The FCC says, however, that T-Mobile failed to properly enter into the joint venture, putting T-Mobile in violation of federal rules.
T-Mobile commented that the company is “perplexed by this,” said Kathleen Ham, vice president of federal regulatory affairs for T-Mobile. The FCC is working with T-Mobile to find a regulatory fix for the situation.
[Via: Reuters]