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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Monday 9 deceMber 2019
State AGs look to head off T-Mobile-Sprint deal in court

By TALI ARBEL isn’t good enough. In a lysts say their withdrawal “The states have the wind network or simply profit by
NEW YORK (AP) — A high- court filing, lawyers argued won’t matter, as it takes at their back in terms of selling the spectrum to oth-
drama telecom deal is that T-Mobile and Sprint only one state to see the the law. How the facts play ers.
heading to court. shouldn’t be allowed to case to completion. out, we’ll find out in the Post-deal, Dish faces up to
T-Mobile, in its attempt to combine “based on the “We’ve made it pretty courtroom.” $2.2 billion in fines if it fails to
buy Sprint for $26.5 billion, create a 5G network that
has already notched ap- serves 70% of the country
provals from key federal by 2023.
regulators. Now it must Some analysts have said
convince a federal judge that Dish has potential as
that the 14 state attor- a viable competitor; the
neys general suing to stop big question is when. Even
the deal are wrong. A trial if Dish were to meet the
starts Monday in U.S. Dis- 2023 government-imposed
trict Court in New York and deadline, it still won’t reach
is expected to last several as many potential custom-
weeks. ers as Sprint’s 4G network
If T-Mobile prevails, the does to day.
number of major U.S. wire- Dish must “start from
less companies would scratch,” said Nicholas
shrink to three from four. A Economides, a New York
combined T-Mobile-Sprint University business school
would become a fiercer professor who joined six
competitor to larger Veri- economists in criticizing the
zon and AT&T. Dish settlement as inad-
But the states argue that equate to make up for the
having one fewer mobile loss of Sprint.
carrier would reduce com- T-Mobile and Sprint say a
petition and cost Ameri- merger is needed because
cans billions of dollars in Sprint by itself is weak and
higher phone bills. getting weaker. Sprint’s
T-Mobile and Sprint provide network quality is worse
cheaper alternatives to Ve- than its rivals’, and it has
rizon and AT&T, and T-Mo- been losing customers,
bile has branded itself the limiting its ability to invest
“Un-carrier,” one that has in network improvements.
made consumer-friendly T-Mobile CEO John Legere
changes such as bringing has insisted that Dish, even
back unlimited-data plans In this April 27, 2010 file photo, a woman using a cell phone walks past T-Mobile and Sprint stores starting from scratch, will
and shattering two-year in New York. Associated Press be more formidable than
service contracts. There are Sprint.
concerns that less compe- Legere, the face of T-Mo-
tition would put an end to hope that Dish will one day clear we’re committed to T-Mobile, meanwhile, is ar- bile and the rare telecom
these types of changes, al- grow into a viable wireless take this all the way,” Cali- guing that consumers will executive whose name
though T-Mobile says that company equal to a com- fornia Attorney General benefit from the stronger may be known to the pub-
won’t happen. petitor that already exists Xavier Becerra said in an network it will create and lic because of his tendency
The deal got the nod from today.” interview Friday. He said cost cuts after the merger , to post videos and GIFs on
both the Justice Depart- T-Mobile, which promised that he’s “never closed the which will let it keep prices social media, is stepping
ment and the Federal not to raise prices for three door” to a settlement with low. The company has also down as CEO next spring.
Communications Commis- years, defends its deal as the companies, although cited “things which usu- He and his replacement, T-
sion, thanks to T-Mobile’s good for competition. It he declined to specify ally would not be relevant Mobile President and Chief
unusual commitment to repeats previous argu- what conditions that would in an antitrust case, such Operating Officer Michael
create a brand-new mo- ments that the combined require of T-Mobile. as the social policy of get- Sievert, have said they are
bile carrier in a deal with T-Mobile and Sprint will be Although it’s unusual for ting rural areas connected confident that T-Mobile will
satellite-TV company Dish. able to build a better 5G states to try to block a deal to broadband,” said Blair prevail, but add that the
T-Mobile agreed to sell mil- network — a priority for the already approved by the Levin, a policy analyst for company will be fine even
lions of customers to Dish Trump administration — federal government, ex- New Street Research and if it isn’t allowed to buy
and to rent its network to than either company could perts note that states in re- former FCC official. He Sprint.
the fledgling rival while it manage on its own. cent years have been play- sees the states’ argument “All road s lead to suc-
built its own. The states’ challenge is led ing a bigger role in antitrust as stronger, but said “odds cess,” Legere said during
Absent that arrangement, by New York and Califor- enforcement. They have are close” of either side a call with analysts in mid-
the Justice Department nia and includes counter- gone after generic drug winning. November.
said, the deal would have parts from 11 other states makers and hit tech com- Dish, a satellite TV company T-Mobile has consistently
been bad for consumers. and the District of Colum- panies with their own inves- with a shrinking customer shown that it would be OK
Dish would start provid- bia. Texas, Nevada, Colo- tigations. base, has spent about $21 without Sprint, said Craig
ing cellphone service after rado and Mississippi have “The states have going billion over a decade buy- Moffett, a well-known
buying Sprint’s current pre- dropped out over the past for them a pretty clear, ing wireless spectrum, the telecom analyst with Mof-
paid-service business. Dish two months after reach- straightforward applica- airwaves for transmitting fettNathanson Research.
is also required to build a ing separate settlements tion of the antitrust laws,” data and calls, although But the company would
faster, next-generation net- in which T-Mobile typically said Jeffrey Blattner, a for- the company hasn’t done still need to figure out a
work, known as 5G, over promised 5G service in the mer Justice Department of- much with it. Analysts have new strategy for creating a
the next several years. states and steady prices or ficial who now teaches at long questioned whether strong 5G network without
The states says the Dish fix low-price options. But ana- the University of Colorado. Dish intends to build its own Sprint’s spectrum.q