Sprint Nextel asked Texas to eliminate the company’s status as...
Sprint Nextel asked Texas to eliminate the company’s status as an eligible telecom carrier (ETC) in the state, in a Monday filing with the Texas Public Utility Commission (http://xrl.us/bngdxe). The company said it “plans to continue to provide wireless service…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
in Texas as a non-ETC,” after holding ETC status for the past seven years. The effective date of its ETC relinquishment is in well over 90 days and not until Dec. 31, the company said. Sprint plans to stop accepting new Lifeline customers after Nov. 30, and will inform existing customers that its Lifeline credit will be discontinued, Sprint said. The telco noted that AT&T Texas and Verizon Southwest hold ETC status in Texas and thus, “Sprint, in its ETC capacity, does not provide service in an area that is not served by another ETC.” Sprint attributes its decision to relinquish ETC status to its “high-cost USF phase-out obligation,” part of the FCC’s 2010 implementation order.