T-Mobile And Sprint Settle Antitrust Case Brought By DOJ And State AGs

To address issues related to their proposed merger, T-Mobile and Sprint agreed to settle an antitrust case brought by the DOJ and Attorneys General for five states.

T-Mobile and Sprint agreed to a substantial divestiture package to (i) ensure that a viable facilities-based competitor can enter the market and (ii) establish multiple high-quality 5G networks that benefit American consumers and entrepreneurs. In accordance with the divestiture package, Sprint and T-Mobile must divest Sprint's prepaid businesses, including Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Sprint prepaid, to Dish Network Corp. In addition, "20,000 cell sites and hundreds of retail locations" must be made available to Dish by T-Mobile and Sprint.

The DOJ and the State Attorneys General claimed that the divestiture maintains competition between "two of only four facilities-based suppliers" of nationwide mobile wireless services. In the Complaint, the DOJ noted that the merger between T-Mobile and Sprint threatens the benefits customers have realized through lower pricing and better services by eliminating "head-to-head" competition.

Comments must be submitted within 60 days of publication of the proposed consent decree and DOJ competitive impact statement in the Federal Register.

Commentary Joel Mitnick

The settlement raises unique procedural issues and important substantive ones. Procedurally, the DOJ and five states with Republican governors filed their complaint and consent decree in the District Court for the District of Columbia. The pending action by nine other State AGs...