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The US Department of Justice has approved the $ 26 billion merger agreement between T-Mobile and Sprint. After more than a year of regulatory downtime, the merger has received the green light from the last federal agency to have resisted, the Federal Communications Commission having already announced its intention to approve the transaction.
The Ministry of Justice finally approved the deal after Dish reached an agreement with operators to acquire Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Sprint's prepaid business and "some" spectrum badets. This will position Dish as the fourth leading US carrier that will be lost after the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint. Both companies will have to provide Dish with at least 20,000 cell sites and hundreds of outlets. The satellite TV provider will also gain unhindered access to the T-Mobile network for seven years, with the goal of developing a mobile network of its network. clean using the recently acquired badets and the spectrum that Dish has been keeping for years. Dish has publicly kept silent about his plans throughout this process, but that should change as of today.
"Through this merger and the accompanying divestiture, we are significantly increasing production by ensuring that much of the spectrum currently unused or underused is made available to US consumers under the form of high quality 5G networks, "said Makan Delrahim, Deputy Attorney General of the Ministry of Justice antitrust. division, says.
T-Mobile and Sprint announced plans to merge last April, saying their combined badets would make it a more viable competitor for AT & T and Verizon. The companies said they would be able to lower prices for consumers and more quickly deploy the next-generation 5G networks across the country, arguments that have been the subject of harsh criticism from consumer advocates and some experts.
The FCC and the Department of Justice are required to approve the agreement before they can go forward. The agreement should be approved by the FCC, although the official vote has not yet taken place. In May, FCC President Ajit Pai announced that he would vote to approve the deal after the companies pledged to provide better wireless and broadband access to rural areas.
"Given the significant commitments made by T-Mobile and Sprint as well as the facts recorded to date, I think this transaction is in the public interest and I intend to recommend to my colleagues to approve it by the FCC, "said Pai said. "This is a unique opportunity to accelerate the deployment of 5G across the United States and bring much faster broadband access to rural Americans. We should seize this opportunity. "
Shortly after Pai's comments, the other two Republican commissioners also expressed their support for the deal, though they never saw anything about the new promises. At a congressional hearing last month, Commissioners Brendan Carr and Mike O'Rielly confirmed they had not yet read the details of the deal.
T-Mobile's relationship with the Trump administration was thoroughly reviewed as the agreement progressed. In March, the Washington Post reported that the company had spent more than $ 195,000 at the Trump Hotel in Washington, DC, while lobbying for the merger.
Congress held a number of hearings on the proposed merger. Many Democrats (and even presidential candidates) have criticized it for reducing the number of US wireless service providers from four to three. Legislators like Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) all signed letters to Pai and Delrahim, citing threats to competition on the market. market. could harm the ability of the United States to lead in 5G.
"The best way to achieve the goal of high-quality, affordable national 5G is through competitive markets," Senators wrote. "This merger takes us further away from the kind of competition needed to achieve this goal. This will lead to excessive consolidation and undermine innovation. "
T-Mobile and Sprint's main argument against these concerns was a proposed sale of Boost Mobile and some of their combined wireless spectrum. Dish will acquire the badets, which could overload the network and replace the two companies as the fourth carrier. Charter and Altice have also bid for the spectrum, but Dish has become the winner for both spectrum and additional badets.
T-Mobile has attempted to merge with other major carriers in the past. In 2011, AT & T announced that it would buy T-Mobile for $ 39 billion. A few months after the announcement of this announcement, the Department of Justice canceled the agreement. In 2012, T-Mobile reached an agreement with MetroPCS to take over the smaller company. The acquisition of Sprint is now the largest purchase of the company.
The merger still has an obstacle to overcome before companies have the green light to finalize. Last month, more than a dozen state attorneys general began legal proceedings to block the deal, chaired by Attorney General of New York State, Letitia James, and the Attorney General of New York. California, Xavier Becerra. "When it comes to corporate power, bigger is not always better," James said. "The merger between T-Mobile and Sprint would not only cause irreparable harm to mobile subscribers across the country by cutting access to affordable and reliable wireless services for millions of Americans."
Now that the GM has approved the agreement, T-Mobile and Sprint can go ahead. But if the lawsuit of the states takes it to the end, it will be necessary to untie everything.
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