Rural Wireless Carriers Oppose T-Mobile’s Purchase of UScellular
They argued USF-funded sites could be shut down.
Jake Neenan
WASHINGTON, April 17, 2025 – Rural wireless carriers and consumer advocacy groups are still asking the Federal Communications Commission to block T-Mobile’s purchase of UScellular.
In recent meetings with staff from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Anna Gomez’s offices, the Rural Wireless Association raised “concern that the proposed transaction will result in loss of coverage for UScellular subscribers who may not be served by the combined wireless network due to the shutdown of cell sites that cannot be supported without Universal Service Fund (‘USF’) support.”
Also in the meetings to express separate concerns about the deal were representatives from the Communications Workers of America, Public Knowledge, New America’s Open Technology Institute, the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, and EchoStar, according to ex parte filings.
The USF objection has been raised by RWA and Public Knowledge before. The thinking is that some of the UScellular equipment supported with USF funds will be decommissioned without a replacement after the sale, since T-Mobile plans to add its own radios only to “selected sites,” making some of the money the government spent on UScellular equipment wasted.
T-Mobile’s response from a January filing is that the company isn’t acquiring any of UScellular’s towers, which USF money can be spent on, and which it said will remain open for any provider to come in and serve hard-to-reach areas.
“The benefits of USF accrue to the customers that are connected or see their service improve or maintained in hard-to-connect areas,” the carrier wrote.
UScellular received more than $96 million in USF funding in both 2023 and 2024. T-Mobile hasn’t gone through the necessary paperwork to receive USF support in the areas where UScellular receives funding, and the companies aren’t asking for that support to be transferred to T-Mobile, according to the companies.
“The USF support received by UScellular goes beyond simply supporting the costs associated with constructing towers,” RWA wrote in a subsequent filing, arguing a portion of the network “will be moth balled if the transaction proceeds.”
Separately, the committee of federal law enforcement officials that reviews telecom transactions involving foreign ownership – T-Mobile is owned by German firm Deutsche Telekom – said last week it had received initial responses from the companies and would complete a review of the transaction within 120 days.
Carr has said he’s willing to hold up merger approvals at the FCC if companies don’t walk back diversity policies, and has opened probes into Comcast and Verizon over the issue. T-Mobile sent the agency a letter last month saying it had ended “goals for diverse spend in our procurement policies” and dissolved some diversity advisory councils it had formed with civil rights groups.
That was apparently enough for Carr, as the carrier’s bid to acquire regional fiber provider Lumos was approved days later. T-Mobile’s purchase of another such provider, Metronet, is still waiting on the green light.
