Charles W. McKee
Vice President, Government Affairs
Federal & State Regulatory
Sprint Nextel Corporation
2001 Edmund Halley Drive
Reston, VA 20191
(703) 433-3786
October 9, 2009
Via Electronic Submission
Ms. Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W., Room TW-A325
Washington, D.C. 20554
Re: Notice of Oral Ex Parte Communication
Applications of AT&T Inc. and Centennial Communications Corp. For Consent to Transfer Control of Licenses, Authorizations, and Spectrum Leasing Arrangements, WT Docket No. 08-246
Dear Ms. Dortch:
This letter is to inform you that on October 8, 2009, Sprint Nextel Corporation ("Sprint") through its representatives Charles W. McKee and Maria L. Cattafesta, spoke via teleconference with Kathy Harris, Paul Murray, Nese Guendelsberger, Ty Bream, and Pramesh Jobanputra of the Commission regarding the above-captioned proceeding.
Sprint informed Commission staff that while AT&T has not yet made its plans for Centennial's Puerto Rico CDMA network and roaming agreements publicly available, Sprint has been actively assessing other CDMA roaming options available in that market. Should AT&T shut down Centennial's CDMA network and refuse to honor Centennial's CDMA roaming agreements in Puerto Rico, Sprint said it would attempt to negotiate agreements with alternative CDMA roaming providers to preserve seamless roaming coverage for its customers. If it was able to reach such an agreement, Sprint estimated that implementing it would take at least 18 months to complete.
Sprint respectfully requested that the Commission require AT&T to support CDMA roaming in Puerto Rico pursuant to the same rates, terms, and conditions as Centennial's existing CDMA roaming agreements for a period of at least 18 months from the date the transaction closes. If, however, Sprint were not able to obtain a new roaming partner, Sprint would require a significantly longer period of time to address coverage in this market.
Ms. Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary
October 9, 2009
Page 2
Sprint clarified that it is not asking the Commission to prevent or delay AT&T's conversion of Centennial's CDMA network to GSM technology. Rather, Sprint asked the Commission to ensure that AT&T maintains enough spectrum to support CDMA roaming services for a relatively short period of time to allow CDMA carriers to make alternative arrangements for the benefit of their customers. In any event, Sprint surmised that AT&T would need to maintain some portion of its spectrum for CDMA service temporarily for its own transition purposes as it migrates Centennial's CDMA customers to GSM.
Pursuant to Section 1.1206 of the Commission's rules, this letter is being electronically filed with your office. Please let us know if you have any questions regarding this filing.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Charles W. McKee_______________________
Charles W. McKee
Vice President, Government Affairs
Federal & State Regulatory
Maria L. Cattafesta
Senior Counsel, Government Affairs
cc: Kathy Harris
Paul Murray
Nese Guendelsberger
Ty Bream
Pramesh Jobanputra