T-Mobile Pushes Case for Sprint in New Filings at FCC; Trump 5G Comments Weighed
T-Mobile told the FCC that only porting data raises questions on the effect of its Sprint buy on competitiveness. The filing, posted Monday in docket 18-197, includes a white paper by T-Mobile counsel, with most of the numbers redacted. “The…
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White Paper demonstrates that utilizing any data that reflects a reasonably representative sample of customers leads to the conclusion that the merger is pro-competitive each and every year from approval through 2024,” T-Mobile said. “Porting data which Applicants have demonstrated to be not representative are the only one of the many sources that leads to a contrary result.” T-Mobile made three other confidential filings Monday, the docket shows. MVNO Altice argued against the deal in meetings on Wednesday with aides to Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks and the T-Mobile/Sprint transaction team. “The proposed merger will reduce, not increase, incentives for the New T-Mobile to invest in 5G” and “will eliminate incentives for the New T-Mobile to provide wholesale service to infrastructure mobile virtual network operators, such as Altice, thus precluding increased retail competition,” Altice said. President Donald Trump’s pro-5G announcements Friday (see 1904120065) likely don’t speak to administration support for the deal, New Street’s Blair Levin told investors. Trump “is not a subtle guy,” Levin said. “If he wanted to support (or block) the deal, we suspect he would say so publicly.” DOJ’s Antitrust Division also isn’t looking at U.S. competitiveness versus China on 5G, he said. “One way to read the President’s statement is that he believes America should give him credit for already doing everything that needs to be done to assure American leadership; therefore the deal is not relevant to his accomplishment,” Levin said. “It is possible that the leadership at the DOJ and FCC could read his statements to think he wants the deal approved but we don’t think that is the best read.”