Rural Carriers, Consumer Groups Want AT&T-Array Deal Reviewed
Groups argued cable wasn’t a meaningful competitive constraint in the wireless industry.
Groups argued cable wasn’t a meaningful competitive constraint in the wireless industry.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2026 – Rural wireless carriers and consumer advocates want federal regulators to reconsider the approval of a $1 billion spectrum sale from Array Digital Infrastructure to AT&T.
The Federal Communications Commission’s December order approving the deal “is in conflict with established law and is based on numerous erroneous findings with respect to important and material questions of fact,” the groups wrote in a Monday application for review. “Accordingly, review of the Order by the full Commission is warranted.”
Array, formerly UScellular, sold AT&T 700 MegaHertz (MHz) and 3.45 GHz licenses covering about 12 percent of the U.S. population after T-Mobile bought the regional carrier’s wireless operations and another chunk of spectrum.
Dish is arguing it is exempt from contracts after its parent company EchoStar reached deals to sell much of its spectrum.
The city has enacted a one-year moratorium on new large data center construction.
Panelists said the mid-band spectrum enables lower-cost broadband in areas where fiber is difficult to deploy.
The cable operator updated its mobile contract with Verizon.
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