The T-Mobile and Sprint Merger Will Only Hurt Consumers

On Oct 16, as a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission, I voted to block the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, the country’s third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers. But I am only one of five votes at the agency, and a majority of my colleagues have already voiced their support for this transaction. On top of that, the Department of Justice recently reached an agreement with the carriers, giving them a green light to combine. The largest wireless merger in history is now headed toward approval. If you own a mobile phone—as 96 percent of American adults do—that’s bad news.

Shrinking the number of national providers from four to three will hurt consumers, harm competition, and eliminate thousands of jobs. In deciding to overlook these harms, the FCC and the Department of Justice have been wooed by a few unenforceable concessions and hollow promises from the two companies involved. Our existing wireless market will devolve into a cozy oligopoly dominated by just three carriers.

Three commissioners at the FCC publicly conveyed their full support for this transaction before they even had any in-house legal, economic, or engineering analysis to review. Then, once we had a document produced by the commission’s expert staff, key parts were rewritten by political leadership without any opportunity for public comment. This is not how good government should operate.  If this merger succeeds, consumers will pay the price.