T-Mobile Supports FCC’s Rosenworcel on Wi-Fi Hotspots

WASHINGTON, August 28, 2024 – On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission was urged to stand firm against a petition challenging its recent decision to support off-campus Wi-Fi hotspots using resources allocated for school and library connectivity programs.

T-Mobile was the first major internet service provider to publicly oppose the petition, joined by prominent public interest groups, including the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB), the Open Technology Institute at New America (OTI), and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. They collectively urged the FCC to reject a petition filed by Maurine and Matthew Molak.

The Molaks' petition specifically sought to overturn the portion of the FCC's July decision that permitted the use of E-rate funds for Wi-Fi services and equipment on school buses. They argued that unsupervised social media access on buses could be dangerous and claimed that the FCC had overreached its legal authority – an assertion they also brought before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.