Sprint affiliate Shentel starts negotiation clock with new T-Mobile

The closure of the T-Mobile merger with Sprint kicked off a round of questions about how the new entity will work, including for Sprint affiliate Shenandoah Telecommunications (Shentel), which offers services under the Sprint brand. Shentel received a Conversion Notice from T-Mobile pursuant to the terms of its affiliate agreement with Sprint which sets forth a cascade of deadlines and potential outcomes. First, there’s a 90-day period for the companies to negotiate mutually agreeable terms and conditions for Shentel to continue as an affiliate of the new T-Mobile. If no agreement is reached, then T-Mobile has 60 days to exercise an option to buy the wireless operations of Shentel. If T-Mobile doesn’t exercise its option, Shentel has 60 days to buy the legacy T-Mobile network and subscribers in its service area. Finally, if Shentel doesn’t exercise its purchase option, T-Mobile must sell or decommission its legacy network and customers in Shentel’s service area.