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Major U.S. Wireless Carriers to Challenge FCC Fine
The U.S.’s major wireless carriers are preparing to challenge the FCC over a fine totaling $200 million. In statements provided to Mashable, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile signaled their intent to appeal the FCC’s fine, which was doled out to the companies for allegedly mishandling customers’ sensitive location-based data.
AT&T, Verizon, & T-Mobile Dispute FCC’s Decision
According to the three big mobile carriers, the FCC is wrongly holding the big telecom companies responsible for the improper use of their customers’ data. “The FCC order lacks both legal and factual merit,” said an AT&T spokesperson. Verizon echoed AT&T’s statement, mentioning that when unauthorized access occurred, they took immediate action to address the issue.
T-Mobile, now merged with Sprint, also provided a response stating that they take customer data security seriously and disagree with the FCC’s decision and the excessive fine imposed upon them.
It should be noted that each company confirmed that a third party misused the location data shared with aggregators. The disagreement lies in whether the carriers should be held accountable, a position the FCC clearly asserts.
Additionally, both T-Mobile and Verizon mentioned that they no longer operate the program that led to the FCC’s fine. Verizon stated that the program was shut down over five years ago, while T-Mobile mentioned the discontinuation of the industry-wide third-party aggregator location-based services program more than five years ago.
AT&T also confirmed that the program was terminated in early 2019. Despite these actions, all three companies have declared their intention to appeal the FCC’s fine.
