LAS VEGAS (Reuters) – No single market transaction, such as AT&T Inc’s (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) $39 billion bid for T-Mobile, can solve the looming spectrum crisis facing the United States, the top communications regulator told Reuters on Tuesday.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said changes in the marketplace will not change the underlying problem that spectrum demand is quickly outstripping supply. The chairman also criticized remarks that the spectrum crisis was more of a marketing spin than a nationwide problem.

AT&T last month announced plans to buy Deutsche Telekom AG’s (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) T-Mobile USA, in large part to deal with its impending spectrum shortage.

A spectrum shortage would mean clogged networks, more dropped calls and slower connection speeds for wireless customers.

The FCC hopes to “repurpose” 120 megahertz of spectrum through incentive auctions where television broadcasters would voluntarily give up spectrum in exchange for a portion of the auction proceeds.

But the agency needs Congress to grant it the authority to hold such auctions and divert some of the proceeds from the U.S. Treasury.

Analysts have said lawmakers could view the merger as giving AT&T what they need without controversial legislation, and some broadcasters have pointed to the bid as a reason to end calls for their highly sought after airwaves.

LAS VEGAS, April 12 (Reuters) – Some U.S. airwaves used for free, over-the-air TV signals must be repurposed for mobile broadband use to tackle a looming spectrum crisis, the top U.S. communications regulator said on Tuesday.

The Federal Communications Commission wants Congress to grant it authority to hold incentive auctions that would compensate television broadcasters for giving up some of their spectrum to wireless companies.

“I believe the single most important step that will drive our mobile economy and address consumer frustration is authorizing voluntary incentive auctions,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski told broadcasters at their annual convention in Las Vegas.

But broadcasters have been resistant to the agency’s proposal, worried about the unintended consequences that parting with airwaves could have on their TV signals and the viewers they serve.

“We’re talking about putting the whole system at risk,” Alan Frank, chief executive of Post-Newsweek Stations Inc, said earlier in the week at the conference.

Repacking the TV band, to clear large contiguous blocks of spectrum considered best for mobile broadband use, could increase interference and degrade the signal strength of broadcasters not parting with spectrum, said Frank.

“We need to start defining not how the auction works, but what this is going to mean for the broadcasters who don’t participate in the auction,” Frank said.

BOSTON, April 9 (Reuters) – Public interest groups are keeping the option of lawsuits against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on the table to fight for stronger Internet “neutrality” rules, an executive at a public interest law firm said on Saturday.

So-called net neutrality rules adopted by the FCC in December would prevent network operators from blocking lawful content but still let them ration access to their networks.

Public interest groups criticized the rules, intended to preserve the openness of the Internet, saying they had been bent too heavily to the will of big industry players like AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

“To go and say the FCC should have made stronger rules is something that my organization and others could be prepared to argue,” said Matt Wood, associate director of the nonprofit public interest law firm Media Access Project.

Net neutrality advocates speaking at the National Conference for Media Reform, hosted by the public interest group Free Press, were not discouraged by lawmakers’ attempts to overturn the rules this week.

House Republicans, in a 240-179 vote, pushed through a measure on Friday disapproving the FCC’s rules. The resolution would overturn the order and prevent the FCC from adopting any rules related to it. [ID:nN08254117]

“It removes the FCC’s jurisdiction in this space,” Markham Erickson, an attorney and executive director of the Open Internet Coalition, said on Saturday at the conference.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. regulators on Thursday adopted data roaming rules that would allow smartphones to access the Internet in areas across the country not covered by their wireless carrier.

The rules set by the Federal Communications Commission in a 3-2 vote would force wireless carriers like AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless to offer “reasonable” roaming rates.

“Mobile providers must be able to offer nationwide voice and data plans to have any chance of competing in today’s market,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said at the agency’s meeting.

But evidence collected from wireless carriers “shows that roaming deals are simply not being widely offered on commercially reasonable terms,” Genachowski added.

Sprint Nextel, MetroPCS Communications Inc and other smaller carriers have lobbied for such rules to ensure they can reach roaming agreements vital to staying competitive as consumers want the ability to use their phones everywhere they go.

The FCC found that Verizon Wireless and AT&T had engaged in few data roaming agreements on their 3G networks, and declined to commit to reaching agreements on the new 4G LTE networks both are deploying.

AT&T’s proposed $39 billion bid for Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile USA would concentrate 80 percent of U.S. wireless contract customers in just two companies — AT&T/T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc.

WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) – U.S. regulators on Thursday adopted data roaming rules that would allow smartphones to access the Internet in areas across the country not covered by their wireless carrier.

The rules set by the Federal Communications Commission in a 3-2 vote would force wireless carriers like AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Verizon Wireless to offer “reasonable” roaming rates.

“Mobile providers must be able to offer nationwide voice and data plans to have any chance of competing in today’s market,” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said at the agency’s meeting.

But evidence collected from wireless carriers “shows that roaming deals are simply not being widely offered on commercially reasonable terms,” Genachowski added.

Sprint Nextel (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), MetroPCS Communications Inc (PCS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other smaller carriers have lobbied for such rules to ensure they can reach roaming agreements vital to staying competitive as consumers want the ability to use their phones everywhere they go.

The FCC found that Verizon Wireless and AT&T had engaged in few data roaming agreements on their 3G networks, and declined to commit to reaching agreements on the new 4G LTE networks both are deploying.

AT&T’s proposed $39 billion bid for Deutsche Telekom AG’s (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) T-Mobile USA would concentrate 80 percent of U.S. wireless contract customers in just two companies – AT&T/T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. federal appeals court threw out challenges to controversial Internet traffic rules adopted in December, saying the complaints were filed too early.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted on Monday the Federal Communications Commission’s motions to dismiss as premature lawsuits filed by Verizon Communications Inc and MetroPCS Communications Inc.

Both companies accused the FCC of overstepping its authority in creating new rules aimed at regulating Internet traffic.

The FCC order, criticized by opponents as a legally shaky government intrusion into regulating the Internet, would prevent network operators from blocking lawful content but still let them ration access to their networks.

FCC rulemakings are traditionally challenged during a 60-day window after the rules are published in the Federal Register.

Verizon, the majority owner of the largest U.S. wireless service, and fifth-ranked MetroPCS, argued that the rules would modify wireless licenses they hold in an attempt to anchor their challenges in a venue favorable to them.

Disputes over airwaves licenses are only heard by the D.C. appeals court. The same court ruled last year that the FCC lacked the authority to stop Comcast Corp from blocking bandwidth-hogging applications on its broadband network.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. lawmaker with oversight of technology expressed concern that AT&T Inc’s plans to take over T-Mobile USA would stifle innovation in the wireless market.

Representative Greg Walden, chairman of the House subcommittee on communications and technology, said he did not want to see a merger diminish the vibrant and competitive nature of wireless.

AT&T’s $39 billion bid to buy Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile USA would concentrate 80 percent of U.S. wireless contract customers in just two companies — AT&T/T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc.

AT&T, currently the No. 2 U.S. mobile carrier behind Verizon, has said the merger will spur innovation and economic growth by improving quality and expanding wireless service to 95 percent of Americans.

But Walden expressed concern about eliminating a national carrier.

“It seems to me if there are fewer and fewer players in a market, there’s less and less opportunity for that creative innovation and invention that has occurred so far in the wireless market,” he said at an event sponsored by news service Politico Pro.

The merger needs the approval of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department and the process is expected to take at least a year.

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) – U.S. government remedies to free up more U.S. airwaves for wireless services are not coming fast enough, and were an important driver behind AT&T Inc’s (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) $39 billion bid to buy Deutsche Telekom AG’s (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) T-Mobile USA, an AT&T executive said on Wednesday.

James Cicconi, the head of AT&T’s lobbying effort to acquire T-Mobile, said the merger creates a fast and certain solution to AT&T’s impending spectrum shortage.

“We’re deploying additional spectrum as quickly as we can, but you hit exhaust rates very fast,” Cicconi said during a panel discussion on spectrum at the Brookings Institution.

AT&T estimates it will carry the equivalent of the volume of all the mobile traffic it handled last year in just the first six or seven weeks of 2015, as the explosive demand for wireless devices like Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) iPhone continues.

A spectrum shortage would mean clogged networks, more dropped calls and slower connection speeds for wireless customers.

“This merger will more quickly create the spectrum efficiencies that we need to sustain demand, and it will free up more spectrum well in advance of the reallocation of spectrum that the government is working on,” said Cicconi, senior executive vice president of external and legislative affairs for AT&T.

The U.S. government has been hunting for underused airwaves to make 500 megahertz of spectrum available over the next 10 years for wireless services.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – AT&T Inc’s (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) $39 billion bid to buy Deutsche Telekom AG’s (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) T-Mobile USA came under scrutiny from New York’s attorney general, who said he is looking into its possible anti-competitive impact.

Citing a potential “near duopoly” as a result of the proposed deal, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he wants to ensure the acquisition does not reduce access to low-cost cell phone options.

The deal announced last week would concentrate 80 percent of the U.S. wireless contract customers in two companies — AT&T/T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

“Cell phones are no longer a luxury for a few among us, but a basic necessity,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “The last thing New Yorkers need during these difficult economic times is to see cell phone prices rise.”

He said he will “closely scrutinize” AT&T’s argument about the benefits of the purchase and weigh that against anti-competitive risks.

An AT&T spokesman said the company looks forward to sharing information with the AG’s office and remains excited about the benefits of the deal, “including improved customer service and expanded high-speed LTE wireless coverage to additional residents.” LTE, or long-term evolution, is a new broadband technology.

T-Mobile could not immediately be reached for comment.

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) – AT&T Inc’s (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) $39 billion bid to buy Deutsche Telekom AG’s (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) T-Mobile USA came under scrutiny from New York’s attorney general, who said he is looking into its possible anti-competitive impact.

Citing a potential “near duopoly” as a result of the proposed deal, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he wants to ensure the acquisition does not reduce access to low-cost cell phone options.

The deal announced last week would concentrate 80 percent of the U.S. wireless contract customers in two companies – AT&T/T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

“Cell phones are no longer a luxury for a few among us, but a basic necessity,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “The last thing New Yorkers need during these difficult economic times is to see cell phone prices rise.”

He said he will “closely scrutinize” AT&T’s argument about the benefits of the purchase and weigh that against anti-competitive risks.

An AT&T spokesman said the company looks forward to sharing information with the AG’s office and remains excited about the benefits of the deal, “including improved customer service and expanded high-speed LTE wireless coverage to additional residents.” LTE, or long-term evolution, is a new broadband technology.

T-Mobile could not immediately be reached for comment.