[ad_1]
The Justice Department has “serious concerns” about the upcoming shutdown of the CDMA network inherited from Sprint, according to a recent letter spotted by Bloomberg, and urges Dish Network and T-Mobile to take “all appropriate measures” to reduce the impact on customers who still depend on the network. Many of Dish’s Boost Mobile customers – which it acquired from T-Mobile as part of the Sprint merger – still rely on the old 3G network and risk losing phone service when the Un-carrier turns it off. January 1, 2022. This has been a sore point in the increasingly troubled relationship between the two companies.
This July 9 letter from the DOJ was shared by Dish as part of its Q2 financial documents yesterday. He’s speaking to the lawyers for Dish Network and T-Mobile, and he acknowledges that shutting down the network could potentially leave a significant number of Boost Mobile customers stranded without phone service. The DOJ reminds T-Mobile that it has agreed to give Dish “reasonable notice” of a legacy network shutdown, although it does not condemn T-Mobile’s schedule as unreasonable. Essentially, the DOJ says it will have to wait and see how things go in order to find out if the advice T-Mobile gave was reasonable.
“The division cannot yet determine whether the notice provided would have been reasonable for a CDMA shutdown on January 1, 2022 in light of all the relevant facts and circumstances, as not all of them have occurred. However, if DISH makes all reasonable efforts to move its customers out of the CDMA network and a substantial portion remains at the end of the period, this fact may well suggest that the notice was not sufficient. “
The DOJ is also not letting Dish get away with it and says the company is also bound by the terms of the merger agreement to make every effort to migrate Boost customers out of the old network.
“… any failure by DISH to pursue all avenues available to prevent a widespread loss of customer service that it has acquired under this final judgment could raise concerns about its own compliance.” “
The letter ends with an ordered request to fully understand, otherwise.
“The Division therefore expects the two Parties to take all available measures to ensure the transition of Boost customers out of the CDMA network before its closure. If any behavior related to the CDMA network shutdown suggests that a violation of the final judgment is likely to occur, the Division will act quickly to pursue all available remedies.
Meanwhile, the two companies do not seem ready to cooperate. T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert yesterday posted a blog post berating Dish for “dragging its feet to take its customers to the next 4G / 5G world.” In a call with investors yesterday, Dish chairman Charlie Ergen appeared more resigned when he discussed the topic than he did a few months ago when he compared T-Mobile to the Grinch, this time calling the company “bad winners”. He says Dish is making all reasonable efforts to migrate its customers, but believes a “significant number” of them are at risk of losing service on January 1.
[ad_2]
Source link