DOJ Has Options on T-Mobile/Sprint, Levin Says; Puerto Rico Bureau Tells FCC of Concerns
DOJ could potentially mandate divestiture of spectrum or network facilities and other assets, or require the new T-Mobile to share its network as part of approving T-Mobile’s buy of Sprint, New Street’s Blair Levin wrote investors Monday. Spectrum divestiture could…
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require sell-off of the 2.5 GHz spectrum owned by Sprint, Levin said. “The first bucket involves forcing the company to divest some or all of the 2.5GHz spectrum,” Levin said. “If it’s a small amount, we are not sure what it would accomplish, but if it is a big amount or all of it, we are perplexed by the antitrust logic. It would destroy a lot of the synergies that are essential to approving the consolidation from four to three competitors.” Meanwhile, the Puerto Rico Telecom Bureau raised concerns about the deal. "The T-Mobile/Sprint Transaction Task Force [should] pay particular attention to the Commission’s spectrum policies applicable to Puerto Rico to ensure such policies promote competition, innovation, and serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 18-197. “With the consolidation of two of the four major carriers, the Bureau is concerned that smaller carriers and new entrants to the market would be priced out of obtaining the necessary spectrum to serve the population of Puerto Rico.”