It's official: The FCC approved the merger of telecommunications giants Sprint and T-Mobile, a move that goes against the giants Verizon and AT&T, but critics say competition and anti-competitive behavior are low.
According to AppleInsider, all that is stopping the two companies from partnering is a bipartisan lawsuit brought by 13 state attorneys general and the federal district of Columbia. Once this is resolved, Sprint and T-Mobile can proceed with a long-planned merger that will raise America's leading telecommunications field from four to three.
After the approval of the merger by the Department of Justice in July, the FCC vote was one of the last hurdles to be overcome. Party lines were divided: President Ajit Pai joined two Republican commissioners in approving the € 26.5 billion merger, while the two Democratic commissioners voted against.
One of them, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, wrote in Atlantic that reducing the number of telecommunications "would hurt consumers, reduce competition and eliminate thousands of jobs." including airlines (which have added smaller baggage fees and seats) and pharmaceuticals (increased prices for essential drugs), Rosenworcel said.
After the merger, Rosenworcel continues, there is little reason for the newly merged company to raise consumer prices for wireless services, with the exception of mega-telecommunications that will not. no (anyway) Even if the terms of the merger require the new T-Mobile to help Dish Dish become a new "fourth telecom", supposedly to preserve some degree of competition, there is little incentive to do so.
Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks echoed Rosenworcel's view that fewer options would result in higher prices in a note. In addition, he criticized the FCC's approval of a merger that "had changed significantly from what was originally proposed, twice" without allowing the public to comment.
US senators had previously urged US regulators not to approve the merger in early 2019. But if state attorneys general do so, the telecommunications sector in the United States will change dramatically.
The post-merger telecommunications landscape.
At first, this is how the telecommunications landscape is about to change. As part of the merger, T-Mobile and Sprint will launch prepaid phone subsidiaries such as Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile to Dish Mobile, as well as part of Sprint's 800 MHz spectrum, a transaction that will cost Antenna € 5 billion.
Dish will also have to establish a partial 5G network by June 2023, which will cover 70% of the US population. Otherwise, you face a € 2.2 billion fine. Obviously, this requirement is intended to provide some degree of competition in 5G.
This is especially important given the progress the new T-Mobile will make in 5G. With the old high-frequency mmWave and low-frequency networks of the T-Mobile 5G, started to go live in 2019, in addition to the active mid-range Sprint 5G in nine cities by the end of the year, the combined 5G mega-telecommunications cover many markets and They are ready to extend 5G to rural areas, which need lower spectrum signals on frequencies below 6 to reach out-of-town customers.
We will have to see how the landscape will actually change, assuming the lawsuit brought by the state attorneys general is resolved without changing the mega-telecommunications plans.