Mike Dano

Sprint and T-Mobile continue to work to obtain regulatory approval for their proposed merger. But, according to some analysts, don't expect the discussion to turn to conditions—including divestitures—until later in 2018. “We would not be surprised to see opponents refrain from offering conditions in these initial rounds of filings,” wrote the analysts at Wall Street firm New Street Research. “Generally, the opposition wants to push to kill the deal and only offer conditions as a last resort.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has a lot on his plate, to say the least. And a new report from Wall Street investment firm Wells Fargo outlines just how many balls Stephenson has in the air as he works to integrate the Time Warner business, pay down a massive amount of debt, deploy 5G, stamp out a winning position in the video business, and build out fiber to millions of new locations. Indeed, the severity of the situation led the analysts at Wells Fargo to downgrade its rating on AT&T stock based on the company's top three major challenges:

The wireless industry continues to urge regulators at the federal, state and local levels to make it cheaper and easier for network operators and others to install wireless equipment including small cells in new locations. And some of the nation’s biggest operators are starting to single out specific cities charging what they argue are excessive small cell deployment fees. It appears that the officials in Lincoln (NE) have emerged as some of the industry’s primary antagonists.

The Federal Communications Commission is opening a new proceeding to investigate the state of telecommunications in America, and as part of that effort the agency will seek comment on how mobile networks should perform across the country. Specifically, the FCC will investigate whether wireless carriers should provide 5 Mbps downloads/1 Mbps uploads, 10 Mbps downloads/3 Mbps uploads, or some other speed. The goal, the agency said, is to determine “whether advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed,” as required by the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Dish’s Charlie Ergen said that the Federal Communications Commission should support his company’s efforts to build out a 5G wireless network because it would aid the United States’ technological position on the global stage. "The goal that they [at the FCC] have—to help the United States be the No. 1 in 5G—and the goal that we have at Dish, is exactly the same,” Ergen said. “And so we're very pleased with that.

Sprint and T-Mobile filed their S-4 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. An S-4 is a filing that details a business combination or exchange offer and includes details such as share distribution, amounts, terms and other information relating to the transaction. Included in the S-4 from Sprint and T-Mobile is a lengthy and detailed timeline about how the companies finally reached their April merger agreement.

AT&T: “Competition has never been greater than it has been over the past two years, and as a result prices are at all-time lows, output is at all-time highs, and innovation, network quality and consumer satisfaction are at unprecedented levels.”

Verizon: “The evidence of a robustly competitive and innovative mobile wireless marketplace remains overwhelming and is only growing stronger."

But not everyone in the wireless industry is seeing the same picture.

According to some of the nation’s top Wall Street analysts, wireless network operators are positioned to reap the financial benefits of a relatively quiet first half of 2018.

The head of the Federal Communications Commission’s wireless bureau fired a wide range of questions at Dish Network about the carrier’s wireless network buildout plans. Importantly, the FCC’s Donald Stockdale stated that “I am contacting you to request updates and more detailed information on your buildout plans for the 53 megahertz of low- and mid-band spectrum that is apparently lying fallow in these bands.” The implication of Stockdale’s questions is that the FCC may begin to take action against Dish for collecting spectrum licenses but not using them.

Verizon and AT&T quickly rejected a proposal by Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to use San Jose’s (CA) approach to small cells as a template for similar deployments in other cities. Hovering over the issue is a continued push by the nation’s wireless network operators to get the FCC to issue guidelines for how cities and states should smooth the rollout of small cells—including how much local regulators can charge carriers for small cell deployments.