If you pay any attention to the broadcasting/wireless scene then you have most likely heard about the rumored Sprint and T-Mobile merger for months. In case you haven’t, the short version is that these two wireless behemoths are hoping to join forces in an effort to combat the stranglehold that AT&T and Verizon seem to have on the market. However, a lot of companies (DISH included) believe that Sprint and T-Mobile are large enough on their own, and that by combining they would create too large of a company and it would be detrimental to the market on a whole.
In a petition to the FCC, that totals over 250 pages, DISH Network makes clear its position that the Sprint and T-Mobile merger is a bad idea. According to DISH, the two companies have severely oversold the impact their merger would have on the 5G market. DISH believes this is evidenced by the fact that both Sprint and T-Mobile have come out with individual plans to move ahead with 5G deployments.
Furthermore, DISH believes that the Sprint and T-Mobile claims that their merger will foster competition in the vertical, and lower prices for the consumers is misguided. In fact, DISH even goes so far as to argue that a merger will have the opposite effect— “economic analysis and empirical data demonstrate…significant price increases” said DISH in their petition.
Mobile World Live points out that DISH Network is not alone in opposing this merger. According to Mobile world, “A number of others including the Rural Wireless Association; NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association; cable operators Frontier Communications and Windstream Services; and the Communications Workers of America trade union also filed statements opposing the deal.”.
While the merger seems to be moving forward for now, there is still plenty of time for the FCC to kill it. It’s also worth noting that the Department of Justice is also in the process of reviewing the merger. Regardless of how it turns out, it is clear that this merger will have a profound impact on the wireless space.
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