For Immediate Release
July 26, 2019
DOJ Consent Decree on Sprint/T-Mobile Merger Strikes Critical Blow to Wireless Competition
Deal Still Blocked by State AGs’ Lawsuit and Could Languish Indefinitely
(Washington, DC) RWA is extremely disappointed that the Department of Justice has caved to political pressure and chosen to ignore the record evidence of the harm to consumers – particularly rural consumers -- that will result from allowing Sprint to exit the market for national mobile wireless service. Allowing T-Mobile to acquire Sprint, and thus reduce the number of nationwide facilities-based wireless competitors from four to three, will result in higher prices for consumers and the reduced ability of consumers travelling through rural areas to access mobile wireless service. The conditions imposed on New T-Mobile by the consent decree are drastically insufficient to protect against the clear harms this market-consolidating merger would bring. Expecting Dish, a startup mobile carrier in its infancy, to be able to compete as a fourth nationwide network, with divested wireless assets from Sprint and T-Mobile and Boost MVNO customers, and subject only to a handful of requirements that will expire, spells disaster for American consumers. Three years is not nearly enough time to launch a facilities-based network. Clearly, DOJ has no idea what it takes to build a competitive nationwide mobile network. Further, the so-called “penalties” that would be imposed upon the parties are woefully inadequate to ensure compliance with consent decree conditions and will just become a cost of doing business to get this “pig in a poke” deal done. RWA predicts that the companies will be back begging for relief from the few conditions they have agreed to undertake because they will fail to meet them. How many times do we have to watch the same rerun before the regulators wise up? Fortunately, the lawsuit filed by 14 attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia to block the merger is still in play and rural consumers can seek protection from the states that are refusing to stand down and let three mega corporations increase profits while consumers get the shaft. RWA encourages rural state AGs to join in the lawsuit to protect rural consumers, particularly Iowa where T-Mobile left a trail of destruction when it acquired iWireless and closed up countless rural retail outlets that serviced rural consumers.
In addition to obtaining Tunney Act approval on the DOJ consent decree, the parties will have to win or settle the lawsuit with the State AGs before closing. That process is expected to be protracted and could cause the 3-way deal to languish or fall apart. Time is not on the transaction’s side.
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About RWA - Headquartered in Washington, D.C., RWA - the Rural Wireless Association is a trade association representing rural wireless carriers who each serve fewer than 100,000 subscribers. RWA's members have joined together to speed the delivery of new, efficient and innovative wireless technologies to remote and underserved communities. For more information visit www.ruralwireless.org |
Stephen Sharbaugh
RWA
202-857-4483
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