T-Mobile announces DEI changes in pursuit of Lumos

T-Mobile said it modified, changed and ended some of its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in its bid to receive regulatory approval for its deal with EQT for fiber operator Lumos. A day after T-Mobile filed its letter outlining the changes, the Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau approved T-Mobile's Lumos transaction. And on April 1, T-Mobile said it closed its deal with EQT for Lumos. "You instructed companies within the FCC's jurisdiction to evaluate their DEI programs to identify and eliminate any invidious forms of discrimination," Mark Nelson, T-Mobile's EVP and general counsel, wrote in T-Mobile's letter to Carr. Nelson outlined T-Mobile's specific changes:

• "Our new supplier development program no longer focuses on specific categories of diverse businesses and instead is directed at fostering opportunities for small businesses."

• "We have eliminated specific targets or goals for diverse spend in our procurement policies and instead made clear that it is T-Mobile's policy that purchases and contracts are awarded based on the best qualified and most competitive suppliers to enable T-Mobile's success.

• "We dissolved as planned our External Diversity & Inclusion Councils, which were created five years ago in partnership with civil rights organizations to advise the company on workforce recruitment, procurement, community investment, and corporate governance."