Rural Wireless Association Flags Telecom Oligopoly Risk in AT&T Spectrum Win

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 2025 — The Rural Wireless Association, a trade group for small carriers, pushed back against an FCC staff decision that approved AT&T’s purchase of UScellular spectrum, warning the move tightened control of key airwaves among the nation’s three largest carriers.

The FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau cleared AT&T’s acquisition of the Lower 700 MegaHertz (MHz) and 3.45 GigaHertz (GHz) licenses from Array Digital Infrastructure, UScellular’s successor entity, on Wednesday, Dec. 3.

RWA said in a Thursday filing that the bureau reused “flawed” competitive findings from an earlier T-Mobile–UScellular order now under review and failed to account for higher roaming costs and reduced access for rural providers.

The bureau’s order also granted AT&T a waiver of the time-limited 40 megahertz aggregation limit in the 3.45 GHz band in markets where the transaction would otherwise exceed the cap.

The group said the transfer would accelerate consolidation in the low-band spectrum and deepen what it called a “nationwide carrier oligopoly.” It also criticized the agency for issuing major transaction approvals without a vote by the three sitting commissioners.

“This amounts to the death of mobile wireless competition,” said Carri Bennet, RWA’s outside general counsel. She added that consumers should expect higher prices as large carriers lead a “three-way split of the market that kills off any incentive for innovation.”

RWA urged the FCC not to “rubber stamp” the pending UScellular-Verizon and EchoStar-AT&T spectrum deals, arguing the latter should require divestitures to rural and regional carriers.