Overview
- AT&T told regulators it eliminated DEI roles and training, removed DEI references from materials, and will not use demographic-based hiring or supplier targets, while keeping employee groups open to all staff.
- Chair Brendan Carr publicly lauded AT&T’s filing and has made anti-DEI pledges a de facto condition for large transactions in the sector.
- The approval covers UScellular spectrum licenses worth $1.02 billion, including holdings that advocacy groups say span licenses in dozens of states and serve a significant share of the population.
- Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez and groups including the Rural Wireless Association, CWA, and NCTA warned the transaction could reduce competition and raise prices in local markets.
- AT&T said recent executive orders, Supreme Court rulings, and EEOC guidance led it to change policies, echoing earlier DEI rollbacks by Verizon and T-Mobile tied to their own FCC approvals.