Rural Carriers Ask Court to Require FCC Respond to FOIA Request on T-Mobile
Womble Bond asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to force the FCC to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request on behalf of 75 rural phone carrier clients concerned about T-Mobile’s alleged rural call blocking.…
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The pleading cites T-Mobile’s “illegal practice of, inter alia, inserting false ring tones into calls made by T-Mobile’s customers and intended for rural destinations.” The practice saved T-Mobile millions of dollars in call-completion costs, the law firm said. “Inexplicably, the Commission has missed its deadline to respond to the FOIA Request, and in response to Requestor’s informal follow up inquiries, has failed to provide an estimate of how long it will take to complete its review,” said Monday's complaint (in Pacer) in 1:19-cv-01690-RDM. “No justification of any type has been provided for the failure to grant or deny the FOIA Request. Coincidentally, however, during the pendency of Requestor’s FOIA request, certain Commission members have been issuing announcements of their intent to support T-Mobile’s planned merger with Sprint.” T-Mobile didn't comment.