The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) accepted an order which requires US operators to offer data roaming services to their rivals, on “commercially reasonable” terms and conditions, and “subject to certain limitations.” In a statement, the regulator said that the move will ensure that customers are able to access data services when outside of the coverage of their home service provider.  Julius Genachowski (pictured), chairman of the FCC, noted that “A broad coalition of rural carriers informed us that their attempts to enter into data roaming negotiations with nationwide providers are ‘many times rejected out of hand.’ One company reported that “even our requests for an assurance to negotiate at some point in the future have been refused.” In short, in the absence of the basic framework that we have on the books for voice roaming, too many competitive carriers have been unable to get deals done.”

The regulator said that while the “overwhelming” majority of comments favour the adoption of roaming rules, “by contrast only AT&T and Verizon Wireless oppose the Commission’s adoption of a data roaming requirement.” These operators argue that providers are “already able to obtain nationwide coverage through data roaming arrangements without a regulatory requirement,” and that mandatory roaming could “discourage investment and lead to less efficient spectrum use by both roaming providers and host providers, particularly in rural areas.” Genachowski previously said that the introduction of regulated data roaming is a natural extension of its voice roaming rules.