FCC puts roaming plans on hold

Smaller carriers will have to wait to find out whether they can continue to roam on larger networks

27 August 2008 15:30 GMT / By Katie Scott

Over in the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has put a freeze on plans which would have allowed small wireless phone carriers to use the networks of larger telecoms companies.

The move has been postponed because of a debate as to whether the smaller companies should be allowed to "roam" in areas where they have airwaves but haven't built networks.

The FCC chairman Kevin Martin had suggested that a solution to the problem was to let the smaller companies continue roaming for another 4 years.

However, this didn't please everyone and now talks have broken down.

Martin told Reuters: "At this point, I'm not sure I see a consensus for how the commission ends up addressing it".

Full tags

Phones, Mobile phones, FCC, Verizon, AT and T