The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that US regulator the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is reviewing the ownership structure of T-Mobile USA. The report claims that the FCC on October 17 sent a letter to T-Mobile, which is owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, advising the company that regulators should have evaluated its 2001 acquisition by the German telephone giant under a 20 percent voting stock threshold. The WSJ states that the merger was evaluated under a more lax standard. As a result, the letter notes that T-Mobile USA’s level of foreign ownership appears to be in violation of the 20 percent limit. “The commission strictly applies the 20 percent statutory benchmark of [the law], and has no discretion to waive it,” adds the FCC letter. “Based on this ownership structure it appears that Deutsche Telekom, a foreign corporation, has a 30 percent, noncontrolling interest in a common carrier license.”

T-Mobile USA, the country’s fourth-largest mobile operator, has been given 30 days from the date of the letter to respond. The issue reportedly arose as the Department of Justice was reviewing Verizon Wireless’ proposed acquisition of Alltel. The issue of foreign ownership was topical in that review as Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of US operator Verizon and British group Vodafone (which holds a minority stake). The FCC is expected to vote on approval of the Verizon/Alltel deal on November 4.