The Mescalero Apache Nation will remain the primary provider of telecommunications service on the reservation, the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission ruled.

Mescalero Apache Telecom, Inc opposed an attempt by T-Mobile to enter the reservation. The tribe said its sovereignty was at stake.

"Mescalero Apache Telecom is only one of eight tribally owned telephone companies in the United States," the company's legal counsel Alan Morel told The Ruidoso News. "The issue was just tribal sovereignty. T-Mobile just absolutely disrespected that."

MATI mainly offers landline service but plans to offer wireless and broadband Internet on the reservation.

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Mescalero tribal sovereignty upheld over T-Mobile's effort to expand service (The Ruidoso News 7/17)