Lawmakers want to kill the T-Mobile-Sprint merger

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and eight of his colleagues sent letters to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and Department of Justice Antitrust Chief Makan Delrahim asking that they strike down a proposed merger deal between T-Mobile and Sprint. “Our enforcement officials are the last line of defense preventing reconsolidation of our telecommunications markets at the expense of American consumers,” the senators wrote. “We urge you to act to prevent this dangerous merger from proceeding.” They added, “We are deeply concerned that the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile, in particular, will eliminate competition that has been shown to benefit consumers and stifle the emergence of new carriers.” The wrote, “The best way to achieve the goal of high-quality, affordable, nationwide 5G is through competitive markets. This merger moves us further away from the sort of competition we need to accomplish this aim. It will lead to excessive consolidation and undermine innovation.”

Signing the letters: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tom Udall (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT),