t-mobile

DISH won’t have to build its own 5G network everywhere in California, or even in every county, if the T-Mobile/Sprint merger is approved. Jeff Blum, DISH’s chief Washington, D.C. staff lobbyist, testified at a California Public Utilities Commission hearing on Friday. He ducked and dodged questions about DISH’s exact intentions for the California assets and people that T-Mobile would spin off, under an antitrust settlement reached with the federal justice department, saying plans were still being made, data was still being analysed, decisions were in the hands of other companies and, well, so on.… More

Executives from T-Mobile, Sprint and, particularly, DISH will be cross examined tomorrow morning, as two days of hearings kick off at the California Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco. Witnesses from the CPUC’s public advocates office will also be on the stand. They’ll all have to explain written testimony they submitted about the wonderfulness, or lack thereof, of T-Mobile’s proposed takeover of Sprint, and asset and people spinoff to DISH.

It’s DISH’s intended role as a new, nationwide mobile telecoms competitor that’s likely to get the sharpest attention.… More

DISH is the sole focus of a California Public Utilities Commission hearing next week. Administrative law judge Karl Bemesderfer decided yesterday that there’s enough evidence in hand for the CPUC to evaluate nearly all of the issues surrounding the proposed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint.

Nearly.

In his ruling, Bemesderfer mused…

What then do we need to hear testimony about? The significant change in the terms of the proposed merger that has occurred over the past months is the addition of DISH as a proposed fourth facilities-based wireless carrier, replacing Sprint.

T-Mobile and, perhaps, Sprint and DISH executives will be cross-examined next week, as the California Public Utilities Commission’s review of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger continues. Karl Bemesderfer, the administrative law judge managing the case, ruled yesterday that an evidentiary hearing next week is necessary, with the exact topics likely determined later today.

A key question raised by opponents of the deal is whether the federal anti-trust settlement that calls for T-Mobile to spin off spectrum, facilities, customers and employees to DISH will create an effective fourth competitor in California’s mobile marketplace.… More

Opponents of T-Mobile’s proposed takeover of Sprint filed their opinions of the deal as it currently stands at the California Public Utilities Commission on Friday. There’s a few hundred pages of testimony and exhibits to plow through, which are linked below if you’re interested.

One issue in front of the CPUC, which has to decide whether to allow the merger to happen, is the effect it would have on rural broadband service. That includes promises from T-Mobile and DISH, which is being spun up as a competitive replacement to Sprint.… More

The hundred-plus pages of testimony submitted by three T-Mobile executives to the California Public Utilities Commission sheds a little more light on what the company intends to do in California when – if – it acquires Sprint and spins off customers, employees and assets to DISH. But most of the specific plans for California submitted to the CPUC last week were filed confidentially.

Chief operating officer Michael Sievert toned down the company’s weasel words about T-Mobile and Sprint workers in California, saying that the number of employees three years after the merger closes will be “equal to, or greater than” the current T-Mobile and Sprint total, even taking into account employees who might be transferred to DISH.… More

T-Mobile, Sprint and DISH filed their responses to the latest questions posed by the California Public Utilities Commission as it extends its review of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger to take into account the settlement reached by the companies with federal anti-trust attorneys.

I’m still working through the nearly 200 pages of “testimony”, particularly the statements by T-Mobile executives. From a quick scan, it looks like they’re following the line laid down by the company’s lawyers: nothing to see here, move on.… More

DISH doesn’t want to disclose what its intentions are for the Californian customers, employees, spectrum, cell sites and retail stores it might – or might not – get from T-Mobile and Sprint when – if – the two companies combine. In a motion filed on Tuesday, the California Public Utilities Commission’s public advocates office (PAO) said that DISH stonewalled requests for information about its California-specific privacy policy, and network build out and customer service plans. So, the PAO is asking the administrative law judge managing the CPUC’s review of the merger to “compel responses” from DISH.… More