The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has released a decision in Worldcall Interconnect, Inc. v. FCC upholding the Federal Communications Commission’s prior order dismissing Worldcall’s roaming complaint against AT&T, Inc. After a long-running feud over voice and data roaming services, the applicable rates for those services, and Worldcall’s inability to negotiate a definitive commercial roaming agreement with AT&T, Worldcall filed a formal complaint with the FCC against AT&T. Worldcall alleged, among other things, that AT&T was offering data roaming services at rates that were commercially unreasonable. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau found that AT&T’s proposed rates did not violate the Commission’s roaming rules, and in 2017, the Commission adopted a final order affirming the Enforcement Bureau decision. Worldcall appealed. In its decision, the Fifth Circuit ruled that the FCC’s decision correctly applied its Data Roaming Rule and was not arbitrary or capricious. The court was sympathetic to Worldcall, even acknowledging that the smaller company was “correct that AT&T’s unwillingness to enter into data roaming agreements was part of the mischief that prompted the Commission’s promulgation of the Data Roaming Order.” However, the court ultimately found that the FCC has wide discretion in how it adjudicates complaints and “considered both AT&T’s and [Worldcall’s] proffered evidence, balanced the competing interests embodied by the Data Roaming Order, and reached a reasoned conclusion” when siding with AT&T and against Worldcall.
