Sprint integration at T-Mobile proceeds without a hitch – unless you’re CWA

Judging by what T-Mobile executives have shared publicly, the integration of Sprint into the T-Mobile sphere is going swimmingly. But if you’re the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the whole thing stinks. T-Mobile said it plans to finish transitioning all Sprint customers to the T-Mobile network over the next few months. The company also is on track to upgrade or decommission substantially all Sprint sites in 2022. It’s been selectively decommissioning sites since the merger closed. Decommissioning will be heaviest in the first two quarters of 2022, with the target being those 35,000 cell sites. It’s not a direct result of the network shutdown, but as part of the overall transaction, CWA recently reviewed the impact of the merger on jobs. Its comments were submitted to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DoJ) to inform their review of corporate merger guidelines. According to CWA, T-Mobile has eliminated 19,840 jobs since the merger. It also closed 32% of its corporate-operated stores, 13% of its third-party stores, and 18% of its Metro by T-Mobile prepaid stores since the merger. The average store closures for other wireless carriers over the same period is 7%. The result of the merger for wireless retail workers, who often move between wireless carriers, is fewer job options and less bargaining power, CWA told the FTC in its comments.