Glint of Hope at FCC for Sprint, T-Mobile Deal

Democratic commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission may not be as united in opposition to a possible Sprint deal with T-Mobile US as previously thought, according to people familiar with the matter.

Democratic Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has acknowledged privately in meetings with people on Wall Street and in the telecom industry that Sprint and T-Mobile may not remain viable as independent companies, the people said. That point echoes an argument Sprint and some analysts have made in favor of a merger and could represent a small but crucial opening for a deal that many had thought would be dead on arrival. "The commissioner does not prejudge transactions that have not been filed," a spokesman for Commissioner Rosenworcel said.