- T-Mobile and UScellular are asking the FCC to expeditiously act on their proposed transfer of spectrum licenses
- Consumer advocates are concerned the deal will be harmful to competition and lead to higher prices
- The FCC sent out notices seeking information from more than a dozen telecom and cable providers as part of its review
Attorneys for T-Mobile and UScellular met with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) staff last week, providing updates on various aspects of their transaction and urging the FCC to act expeditiously on the transfer of spectrum licenses.
But a group of consumer advocacy organizations and others are asking the FCC to slow down and consider what the deal means for competition in wireless services, potential price increases and how it will add to T-Mobile’s already dominant concentration of spectrum.
In an April 23 filing, the Rural Wireless Association (RWA), Communications Workers of America (CWA), Public Knowledge, New America’s Open Technology Institute and EchoStar spelled out their concerns about the proposed $4.4 billion deal.
Specifically, RWA raised concerns that UScellular’s exit from the market will result in service price increases for consumers. RWA noted that approximately five years from the date of closing of the T-Mobile/Sprint deal, T-Mobile announced that it was raising its phone plan rates by $5 per line per month effective April 2, 2025.
CWA is worried that the proposed merger will further entrench and extend T-Mobile’s dominant position in many local labor markets for retail wireless store workers. By CWA’s estimates, T-Mobile closed 30% of its retail stores after the T-Mobile/Sprint transaction, reducing those jobs by about 21,616.
Public Knowledge noted that the burden of proof lies with T-Mobile and UScellular, and that they’ve failed to show the proposed deal won’t harm the consumer or the public interest. New America wants the FCC to apply an automatic handset unlocking requirement on T-Mobile, similar to what it did in the T-Mobile/Mint Mobile proceeding, to make it easier for customers to switch.
Finally, EchoStar’s main beef is that the proposed transaction will “substantially harm” competition by exacerbating T-Mobile’s already dominant levels of spectrum concentration. It also said T-Mobile and UScellular have failed to justify why the proposed deal is necessary or in the public interest.
FCC seeks input from rivals
Their concerns come as the FCC last week sent out notices to more than half a dozen telecom and cable companies as part of its review of the transaction. Similar to what it did during its evaluation of the T-Mobile and Sprint merger, the FCC is asking for information about the proposed transaction’s impact on other companies in the telecom and cable space.
AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Communications are among those that received notices from the FCC. Responses are due by May 13.
T-Mobile announced almost a year ago that it wanted to buy most of UScellular's wireless operations, about 4 million customers and some spectrum for about $4.4 billion. The deal includes 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 2.5 GHz, AWS and PCS holdings.
AT&T and Verizon also agreed to buy some of UScellular’s spectrum for about $1 billion each. AT&T is going after its 3.45 GHz and 700 MHz spectrum, while Verizon’s transaction involves 850 MHz, AWS and PCS licenses.