AT&T 4G LTE Bait and Switch

AT&T told the FCC last year it didn't have enough spectrum to deploy 4G LTE in less-populous areas, but not it's deploying the same thing almost everywhere in the U.S.

David Goldman wrote for CNNMoneyTech 7 November 2012, AT&T caught in a brazen 4G lie,

AT&T on Wednesday announced a plan to cover 96% of the U.S. population with 4G-LTE service by the end of 2014. That's great news for customers — but it reveals that AT&T told regulators a pretty big whopper last year while fighting for its doomed T-Mobile merger.

One of the deal's fiercest battle points was 4G access outside major cities. Without T-Mobile, AT&T (T, Fortune 500) said it was "very unlikely" that it would expand 4G-LTE service beyond the 80% coverage threshold it already planned to reach by 2013.

"In some of these [less-populous] areas, AT&T simply lacks the spectrum necessary to deploy LTE," the company told the Federal Communications Commission in a written defense of its proposal.

Yet....

Fast-forward 11 months. AT&T says that its $14 billion network investment will allow its 4G service to cover 300 million Americans, the overwhelming majority of the U.S. population.

Which is what the FCC said last year AT&T would do.

Bait and switch.

-jsq