April 2018

Sprint, T-Mobile Agree to $26 Billion Merger

The boards of Sprint and T-Mobile US struck a $26 billion merger that, if allowed by antitrust enforcers, would leave the US wireless market dominated by three national players. Under the terms of the deal, T-Mobile will exchange 9.75 Sprint shares for each T-Mobile share. T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom will own 42% of the combined company and Sprint parent SoftBank Group will own 27%. The remaining 31% will be held by the public. Deutsche Telekom would also control voting rights over 69% of the new company and appoint nine of its 14 directors.

Chairman Pai Defers Cambridge Analytica Investigation to FTC

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has said the FCC does not plan to investigate reports that Dish, Tivo and ComScore may have given Cambridge Analytica "the specific viewing habits of many subscribers in the United States." Chairman Pai says the Federal Trade Commission should instead be the one investigating and added that he has forwarded the issue to the FTC. He said he was sure an inquiry would be in good hands.