t-mobile

DISH has spectrum for urban people and rural land, but maybe not for rural Californians

13 August 2019 by Steve Blum
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Dish aws3 spectrum per allnet insights and analytics via fiercewireless

Analysis done by Allnet Insights & Analytics for FierceWireless raises doubts about whether the settlement reached by the federal justice department with T-Mobile, Sprint and their new partner, DISH, will make a meaningful difference in rural California. The question is whether DISH has enough of the right kind of spectrum to offer the same kind of fast, high capacity broadband service it might in urban areas to California’s particular kind of rural communities.

The analysis and accompanying maps, as presented in an excellent article by Monics Alleven, “suggest DISH owns a lot of spectrum”.… More

Wrangling over T-Mobile’s federal antitrust settlement continues in California

6 August 2019 by Steve Blum
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Two organisations that largely make their living objecting to utility company requests at the California Public Utilities Commission, and then billing the company involved or the CPUC for their time, filed a me too response yesterday to T-Mobile’s bid to speed up review of its proposed merger with Sprint.

T-Mobile, Sprint and DISH reached an agreement a couple of weeks ago that satisfied anti-trust objections raised by the federal justice department. The deal would let T-Mobile take over Sprint, while DISH would get reseller rights on the new network, and spectrum and retail assets to eventually build a competing system.… More

T-Mobile tempo goes from waltz to tango at CPUC

1 August 2019 by Steve Blum
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Tango

T-Mobile’s request for rapid approval of its merger with Sprint and sale of assets to DISH got a staccato response from opponents at the California Public Utilities Commission, but the next step won’t necessarily follow that rhythm. The CPUC’s public advocates office and the Communications Workers of America – a major telecoms industry union – filed their objections yesterday, just three working days after T-Mobile’s motion was submitted.

The objections fall mainly into two categories: procedural and substantive.… More

T-Mobile’s proposed drop kick of employees to DISH might boomerang in California

30 July 2019 by Steve Blum
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Feral kid boomerang

T-Mobile bought out another opponent to its merger with Sprint, but could have hurt its chances of gaining regulatory approval in California.

Following its deal to get resale, retail and spectrum assets from T-Mobile, DISH filed a request yesterday with the California Public Utilities Commission to withdraw its opposition to the merger, saying its agreement with T-Mobile and the federal justice department “will facilitate and accelerate DISH’s entry into the wireless market as a fourth nationwide facilities-based mobile network operator thus solving the harms of the reduction in competition” caused by the merger.… More

California still blocks the path to a T-Mobile Sprint merger

29 July 2019 by Steve Blum
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Caltrans flagger stop

The T-Mobile/Sprint merger ball is back in California’s court. Friday, T-Mobile, Sprint and DISH reached an agreement to shuffle assets and set the stage for a new, nationwide mobile network to emerge.

Maybe.

But that satisfied the anti-trust lawyers at the federal justice department.

It hasn’t done it yet for California attorney general Xavier Becerra or the California Public Utilities Commission, though.

Becerra is one of 13 state AGs who are backing a joint lawsuit in federal court, with the goal of blocking the merger as originally proposed.… More

California kicks T-Mobile-Sprint deal to September. Or maybe much later

17 July 2019 by Steve Blum
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Tmobile san francisco 18may2019

The California Public Utilities Commission can’t act on T-Mobile’s request for permission to acquire Sprint until the middle of September, at the earliest. Yesterday was the deadline for any proposed decisions – in any proceeding, T-Mobile or not – to be placed on the commission’s 15 August 2019 meeting agenda. The next scheduled meeting after that is on 12 September, which means a draft decision would have to be released for the legally required 30-day public review period by 13 August.… More

Top mobile execs let air out of the 5G balloon, which will “never reach rural America”

19 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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Deflating balloon

It’s one thing to promise the moon to customers and city councils, but quite another to mislead Wall Street. Creating outrageous expectations there can land you in jail. Which, presumably, is why two top executives from Verizon and T-Mobile are walking back expectations of a universal 5G wonderland.

According to a story by Sean Hollister in The Verge, it’s about the new frequency bands that mobile companies plan to use for high speed, low latency 5G service.… More

California attorney general joins lawsuit to block T-Mobile-Sprint deal, likely delays it indefinitely

13 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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Tmobile san francisco 18may2019

T-Mobile’s proposed merger with Sprint is “presumptively anticompetitive” according to California attorney general Xavier Becerra and eight other state attorneys general (plus their counterpart in the District of Columbia). On Tuesday, they sued the companies in a New York-based federal court with the goal of blocking the deal. The ten – all democrats – say there would be substantial damage to the market for mobile telecoms services if it goes through…

Sprint and T-Mobile are close competitors.

… More

CPUC approval of T-Mobile-Sprint deal slipping to August, if then

5 June 2019 by Steve Blum
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Caltrans slow 2

Even if the federal justice department has an Ajit Pai-like epiphany about T-Mobile’s proposed takeover of Sprint and approves the deal today – not likely – there’s diminishing hope that California’s review of the merger will wrap up before August. And the possibility of a mid-September decision is growing.

There are three structural reasons for the delay. First, the CPUC only has one voting meeting scheduled for July, on the 11th, and there’s a four week gap between the commission’s last August meeting and its first one in September.… More

Federal anti-trust staff want to block T-Mobile-Sprint merger, report says

23 May 2019 by Steve Blum
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Despite Monday’s raucous cheerleading from republican members of the Federal Communications Commission, the federal justice department is moving toward blocking T-Mobile’s proposed takeover of Sprint. According to a Reuters report, a staff review has concluded that allowing the two companies to combine, thereby reducing the competitive landscape from four nationwide mobile carriers to three, would do too much damage to the telecoms marketplace…

The U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust division staff has recommended the agency block T-Mobile US Inc’s $26 billion acquisition of smaller rival Sprint Corp, according to two sources familiar with the matter…

The final decision on whether to allow two of the four nationwide wireless carriers to merge now lies with political appointees at the department, headed by antitrust division chief Makan Delrahim…

One critic of the deal, Gene Kimmelman, president of Public Knowledge, the nonprofit public interest group, said top brass in the Justice Department’s antitrust division do not generally overrule the staff but they occasionally do.

… More