BOZEMAN, Mont.—U.S. Senator Steve Daines today secured the expansion of wireless broadband access in rural Montana.
After months of hard work by Daines, today the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) provided final regulatory approval for T-Mobile to provide 4G LTE service to areas covering over one million people in Montana and Wyoming.
“Montanans know all too well the feeling of seeing your call dropped, pressing send on text messages that will never get sent in the rural parts of our state,” Daines stated. “Today’s announcement that T-Mobile will be able to expand their coverage to the underserved part of our state is great news for connectivity and the safety of Montanans on our roadways.”
“T-Mobile is grateful to Senator Daines and the FCC for giving us the opportunity to expand broadband across Montana,” said Kathleen Ham, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for T-Mobile.
Daines met with T-Mobile CEO John Legere in his Washington, D.C. office on November 30, 2016.
The FCC’s approval follows a letter Daines sent to the FCC, urging it to take action on T-Mobile’s plan to offer expanded service.
Daines has been a vocal advocate to deploy unused spectrum in Montana. Daines called on nationwide wireless companies to improve their service in rural America over a year ago at a U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing. He also urged the FCC to update the Universal Service Fund’s (USF) Mobility Fund, which is aimed at providing broadband service to rural and underserved areas.
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