The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made the decision: T-Mobile-Sprint Merger Gets FCC Approval
The deal has previously been approved by the Department of Justice (DOJ). However, the DOJ approval is made contingent upon T-Mobile and Sprint divesting a minimum of 20,000 cell sites and a certain number of retail locations to Dish. As part of that divestiture, Dish will have access to T-Mobile’s network for seven years, during which time, Dish will begin building its own network of coverage.
In addition, the FCC’s approval is conditional on the commitments by T-Mobile and Sprint to provide wireless users with more benefits. Specifically, the companies agreed to deploy 5G service to cover 97% of Americans in the next three years. Within the next six years, the companies have also pledged to provide 90% of Americans with access to mobile speeds of 100 megabytes per second. If these commitments are not met, the FCC could fine them in excess of $2 billion.
Although the FCC argues that competition will not be harmed by a T-Mobile-Sprint merger, others disagree. Several state attorneys general and dissenting FCC commissioners believe it will lead to less competition and higher prices. This past June, several state attorneys general filed a civil anti-trust lawsuit which is scheduled for trial in December. A decision is unlikely for several months after the trial begins.
In a dissenting opinion to today’s approval, FCC Commissioner, Geoffrey Stark, wrote:
“Based on my review of the record, I believe that T-Mobile and Sprint have failed to prove that their merger will benefit the public interest. While the parties promise their merger will accelerate the availability of some form of ‘5G’ for some Americans, history teaches us that the most likely effect of this merger will be higher prices and fewer options for Americans.”
However, for the first three years following the merger, T-Mobile’s CEO, John Legere, promised not to raise the price of wireless plans during that time. Legore just announced on Twitter that T-Mobile is planning on having an event, entitled “The New T-Mobile Un-Carrier 1.0” which will be on Thursday, November 7th. The event is likely going to reveal more information on T-Mobile’s plans in the coming months.
If you are T-Mobile or Sprint landlord, contact us today to better understand your options related to a T-Mobile-Sprint merger.
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