Trump FCC prepares to approve T-Mobile-Sprint merger

[brooklynite]

Source: Politico

A Trump administration regulator on Monday moved to bless T-Mobile’s $26 billion merger with Sprint, a deal that critics say will reduce wireless competition and raise prices for consumers.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he would recommend approval of the transaction, based on a series of commitments made by the two companies. That signals he likely has the FCC's Republican majority lined up to give the green light. The Justice Department, which is conducting its own review, declined to comment.

The development represents a positive sign for the two companies and T-Mobile CEO John Legere, who made headlines for his frequent stays at the Trump International Hotel in Washington during the merger review. Approval would mark a sharp contrast with the administration's approach to another recent deal involving T-Mobile rival AT&T. The Justice Department unsuccessfully sought to block AT&T's $85 billion acquisition of Time Warner, which President Donald Trump, a frequent critic of Time Warner's CNN, opposed.

In a statement Monday, Pai pointed to commitments made by T-Mobile and Sprint, including deployment of a 5G network covering 85 percent of rural America within three years. The companies are also committing to delivering specific data speed benchmarks, which would be verified by sending cars with testing gear out across the post-merger footprint. The companies also agreed to divest a prepaid wireless service, Boost Mobile, to address concerns about the competitive impact of the deal.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/20/fcc-approve-t-mobile-sprint-merger-2307906

[MurrayDelph]

1. And, of course,

this approval has nothing to do with the several weeks the T-Mobile executives spent renting suites and loitering in the bar and lobby of Trump's DC hotel, all wearing corporate logo clothing.

[cstanleytech]

5. From what I read though Sprint is struggling to survive in the current market so

a merger with T Mobile makes sense.
Mind you if it was with AT&T or Verizon trying to buy them I would not be approving of it as those two are large enough as it is and such a merger should be rejected imo.

[louis-t]

6. But Trump did not approve of AT&T merger because

CNN isn't 'nice' to him.

[AtheistCrusader]

7. T-Mobile and AT&T Merger attempt was in 2011.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attempted_purchase_of_T-Mobile_USA_by_AT%26T

[cstanleytech]

9. And it was rightly rejected as the two would be way to big.

[AtheistCrusader]

16. Most definitely.

Also, ended up a 2 billion dollar shot in the arm for T-Mo.

[cstanleytech]

8. Immaterial really as the fact is Sprint is becoming more and more irrelevant and thus

the merger proposal.

[customerserviceguy]

10. If this goes through

I'm through with Sprint. I will never, ever pay another wasted dime to T-Mobile ever again in my life.

Maybe if they stopped pissing away so damned much money on advertising, they might be able to not only stay afloat, but might be able to be competitive price-wise. I get so sick of seeing that "Can you hear me now?" stooge that they hired away from Verizon, another cell phone company that will never get a dime from me.

[cstanleytech]

11. Well that is fine. Personally I think Verizon has the best overall network but we switched last

month to ATT for their unlimited family plan and some new phones.
We probably would have stayed with Verizon but it would have been an absurdly large bill to buy 3 new phones as well as the plan cost and all the fees they tack on.

[customerserviceguy]

12. I may shift over to ATT

if the merger goes through. I had poor service with them before, but that was about two decades ago, and all carriers had areas that were spotty, even in places that had enough potential customers to serve.

Have you had a good experience with them? I would only have one line, and while I suspect I can't use my existing phone (fully paid for), I sure wouldn't go with anything beyond the most basic smartphone. I just use my phone to call maybe four people a few times a week, and look at news and sports with the smartphone.

[cstanleytech]

13. Well we had some issues with my brothers Iphone 7 but we tracked that down to

an issue with the case he bought at the store and switched him to an otterbox defender one to clear it up.
The LG G8s me and my sister in law got work really well with specs imo comparable to most of Samsungs lineup even though people complain about the hand gesture feature being gimmicky.
Network wise I have noticed one or two minor connection issues which rarely happens with Verizon but overall its improved since we last had them back in 2011 when we could not even get a signal inside our house.

[customerserviceguy]

14. Thanks, I appreciate your input

I get pretty good reception with Sprint's network where I live, but I have encountered some glitches. Just last month, we went to a shopping mall in Waynesboro, VA, and while my lady went into one store while I sat in the car with our stuff (we were moving things from up north) I got no Internet service. Then, when she came back to the car, and drove it 30-40 feet to another section of the mall, I got service!

I may find an independent carrier who uses the Sprint network if the AT&T option does not pan out for some reason. I no longer need a separate line for my tablet, as I now have cable Internet in my home in SC, so that is money wasted that I can stop.

[onenote]

15. which cell phone company will you use?

[Initech]

2. Yay! More billion dollar mega mergers!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Good news for @TMobile, which has spent $195,000 at Trump's hotel while it's waited for a decision

Good news for @TMobile, which has spent $195,000 at President Trump's hotel while it's waited for a decision from his appointees. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/t-mobile-acknowledges-its-patronage-of-trumps-washington-hotel-increased-sharply-after-announcement-of-merger-with-sprint/2019/03/05/d123be66-3ecb-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html …

Link to tweet

[Achilleaze]

4. Pay to play (R)

&f=1