T-Mobile, Custom Sprint Merger Pitch for Trump

T-Mobile and Sprint are setting the stage for their $ 26 billion merger for the Trump era, saying it would bring the United States closer to a 5G future and help the country beat China economically.

In previous administrations, the agreement combining two of the country's four wireless service providers was likely to be approved, but the corporate message could be receptive this time around.

The Trump administration increasingly sees 5G, the next generation of wireless networks, as a top priority for economic and national security, particularly with respect to its rivalry with China. According to experts, China has outstripped the United States in 5G.

T-Mobile and Sprint have seized on these concerns, saying that this combination was essential to achieve widespread deployment of 5G, which many believe can be fully realized. Building this new network could also require a large number of workers, rely on President TrumpDonald John Trump, activists ask Washington officials to rename the street in front of the Saudi Arabian Embassy after Khashoggi On five occasions of the final debate in the Senate of Indiana, Avenatti said the FBI He had informed that he was targeted by a bomb attack against an email.Push for jobs.

Both companies have already considered merging. When Sprint's parent company made contact with leading antitrust regulators during the Obama administration – the former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Tom Wheeler, and Bill Baer, at the head of the antitrust division of the Department of Justice – about a possible merger with T-Mobile, the two officials have discouraged the plan because of concerns related to consolidation.

This time, the merger appears to have a better chance of getting approval from the FCC and the Department of Justice. A number of wireless industry analysts give it about the same chance, a strong position for such a controversial deal.

"We started with a 50/50 rating and we're still at 50/50," analyst Craig Moffett said in a blog post last week. "We have always said that the arguments for and against were equally convincing."

The groups, however, are mobilizing against the merger before the Wednesday deadline set by the FCC to submit comments. It is not clear exactly how long the two agencies will consider the agreement.

The calculation of the administration may depend on whether there is sufficient competition in the wireless market and whether cable operators who have recently introduced the mobile service, such as Comcast and Charter, can be considered serious players. sector.

T-Mobile and Sprint's rivals have largely remained silent on the deal, but some consumer groups and Democrats have turned out to be virulent opponents. Critics fear that the impact of the merger will be much more damaging for low-income workers and consumers.

"Our main concern is that the market is already highly concentrated," said Gaurav Laroia, policy advisor of the Public Interest Group Free Press. "Market concentration is not going to produce good results for consumers."

Verizon and AT & T are the only other two national wireless carriers. T-Mobile and Sprint are leaders in providing low-cost plans, including through their respective prepaid service providers, Metro PCS and Boost Mobile. Laroia argued that eliminating competition between the two would have a huge impact on low-income customers.

"It's good that they are fighting over these customers," he said. "They had to come up with innovative price-based offers in this market segment."

The merger could also face the opposition of states even if it is approved by federal regulators. The workers' group Communications Workers of America also opposed the agreement, predicting that this would lead to a loss of more than 28,000 jobs.

Sprint and T-Mobile refused to comment on this story.

Before the FCC, however, they argued that the merged company would actually create 11,000 more jobs in 2024 than the two companies.

The companies stress the potential of their merger for the deployment of 5G, an issue that they believe will help influence the Trump administration.

The expansion of 5G would also require massive private sector investment and potentially thousands of new jobs to deploy cell stations in cities.

"This proposed merger is necessary to achieve a key goal to improve consumer welfare in this country: the rapid and widespread deployment of 5G networks," wrote T-Mobile and Sprint in a document filed with the FCC.

Laroia notes however that the companies had planned ambitious deployments in the 5G before announcing their merger.

"It's true that 5G marketing is a powerful tactic," he said. "The willingness of the decision makers to see that this network is deployed quickly is real. [but] I think the marketing of these two telecom companies is an exaggerated hype. "

Nevertheless, this messaging could be useful for this administration. Senior officials such as FCC President Ajit Pai, Director of the National Economic Council of the White House Larry Kudlow, and Makan Delrahim, Deputy Attorney General for Antitrust, have all extolled the expected benefits of 5G .

Blair Levin, an analyst at New Street Research and a former FCC executive, believes companies are sending an effective message.

"I think you have to give a huge credit to the T-Mobile team for successfully convincing a number of Trump administration members to see the transaction in their mental frame," Levin said. .