MTA Solutions is the brand of Matanuska Telephone Association, an Alaska telecom co-op. Its cellular arm, MTA Wireless, ran its own CDMA and LTE network. MTA told Alaska regulators it would discontinue wireless service as of August 1, 2017. It later sold its towers and spectrum. MTA still sells internet and landline phone service.
MTA Solutions cell service is gone
On January 20, 2017, MTA Communications, LLC, doing business as MTA Wireless, petitioned the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to give up its wireless carrier designation, effective June 30, 2017. The petition stated MTA’s intent to discontinue wireless service as of August 1, 2017. Wikipedia lists MTA Solutions among former US network operators, ended 2017. In February 2018, MTA said it had sold its wireless towers and spectrum.
If you had an MTA Solutions line
No source names a carrier that took MTA Wireless customers. MTA still serves Alaska with internet and landline phone, but not mobile. A number left on an MTA Wireless account after August 1, 2017 cannot be ported through MTA now. Ask your current carrier whether the number can be recovered, or pick any carrier that covers your area.
How MTA Solutions ended
- January 1, 2017: The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reports MTA continues transitioning out of cell phone service (cited by Wikipedia).
- January 20, 2017: MTA Wireless petitions the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to relinquish its wireless carrier designation.
- June 30, 2017: Requested effective date for giving up the wireless designation.
- August 1, 2017: MTA’s stated date to discontinue wireless service.
- February 25, 2018: MTA writes that it exited the wireless market and sold the towers and spectrum it used as a wireless carrier.
Why MTA Solutions ended cell service
MTA wrote in February 2018 that it decided to exit the wireless market after a review. It then sold the towers and spectrum it had used as a wireless carrier. The same post ended MTA’s last fixed wireless service in the Susitna Basin, calling that service out-of-date technology failing at an increasing rate. The sources give no detailed reason for leaving cellular. MTA kept its internet and landline business.
How to find who holds an old number now
- Check an old bill or payment record. It names the company that billed you last.
- Run the number through a carrier lookup tool. It shows the carrier that holds the number today.
- Call that carrier and ask for the account number and transfer PIN.
- Start the port from the new carrier. Never cancel the old line first.
Your right to keep a number
Number portability is federal law, not a carrier policy. The rule is the FCC’s: Portability: Keeping Your Phone Number When Changing Service Providers.
How we verified MTA Solutions
BestCellular.com tracks active carriers and defunct ones. We keep both, because people still search for brands that no longer exist. Every fact on this page comes from the sources listed below, and we leave a detail out when no source states it. Where sources disagree, this page says so. If you can document a correction, tell us and we will check it against the sources.
Tracked and active are different counts on this site. MTA Solutions counts in our tracked total, not in our active total, so it does not appear in tools built for live carriers.
Questions about MTA Solutions
Is MTA Solutions cell service still available?
No. MTA told the Regulatory Commission of Alaska it would discontinue wireless service as of August 1, 2017. MTA now sells internet, landline phone and business services, with no mobile plans.
Which network did MTA Solutions use?
Its own. MTA Wireless ran a CDMA2000 network with EV-DO and LTE data, per Wikipedia’s list of former US mobile network operators. It was a network operator in Alaska, not a virtual carrier.
What happened to MTA Solutions customers?
The sources do not name where they went. MTA asked to give up its wireless carrier designation effective June 30, 2017, and planned to end wireless service on August 1, 2017. Customers had to choose another carrier.
Does MTA still offer any phone service?
Yes, landline only. MTA Solutions’ website lists internet, home phone and business services and describes MTA as an Alaska co-op internet provider. It no longer sells cell phone service.
Sources
Checked October 13, 2026.
- Notice of Utility Request to Relinquish, Docket U-17-005 (State of Alaska Online Public Notices): MTA Wireless petition filed Jan 20, 2017; relinquishment effective June 30, 2017; intent to discontinue wireless service as of August 1, 2017 (notice dated January 24, 2017).
- List of mobile network operators in the United States (Wikipedia): Former-operators table: MTA Solutions, CDMA2000, EV-DO/LTE, end date 2017, discontinued cellular service (checked 2026-10-13).
- On MTA’s decision to exit the fixed wireless business (MTA): MTA exited the wireless market and sold its towers and spectrum (posted February 28, 2018; Frontiersman February 25, 2018).
- MTA Solutions home page: Current services: internet, landline phone, business; Alaska co-op (checked 2026-10-13).
Best Cellular. “MTA Solutions: What Happened,” BestCellular.com. https://bestcellular.com/mta-solutions/
Free to reuse with credit. Licence, sources and the full dataset. All defunct carriers are listed on carriers that shut down.
Live carriers to look at instead
No carrier took over MTA Solutions’s customers. These carriers publish their network and run today.