Rural Wireless Association: T-Mobile lied to the FCC about its 4G coverage

The Rural Wireless Association (RWA) claims T-Mobile lied to the Federal Communications Commission about the extent of its 4G LTE coverage. T-Mobile claimed—under penalty of perjury—to have coverage in areas where it hadn't yet installed 4G equipment. As part of the FCC's Mobility Fund challenge process, RWA members have conducted millions of speed tests at their own expense to determine whether the major carriers' coverage claims are correct. Those speed tests previously found that Verizon didn't cover the entire Oklahoma Panhandle as the carrier claimed. More recent tests found similar results for T-Mobile, the RWA said:

The record is replete with filings, by RWA and others, detailing concerns about overstated Verizon coverage. In addition, there are also concerns about overstated coverage by T-Mobile. RWA members discovered through the challenge process that—in many areas—T-Mobile projected its future 4G LTE coverage and reported that coverage to the Commission ahead of or by the January 4, 2018 deadline instead of the coverage it had in place by the January 4, 2018 deadline. RWA members noted that the coverage data submitted by the January 4, 2018 deadline had to be certified as accurate under penalty of perjury.