T-Mobile Tweaks Sprint Deal Rationale as Opponents See Problems

T-Mobile is offering a revised rationale for buying Sprint, a turn that critics say is a sign the carrier’s earlier arguments weren’t winning over US officials who can bless or kill the deal. T-Mobile told the Federal Communications Commission in a filing earlier in Nov that it needs the Sprint merger to help it compete more vigorously against giants AT&T and Verizon. In Sept, the company focused on how the tie-up would give it an edge in quickly building an advanced wireless network known as 5G, a goal of the Trump administration. "It’s a big shift," said Allen Grunes, a former lawyer with the Justice Department’s antitrust division who is representing the Communications Workers of America, which opposes the deal. T-Mobile, he said, appears to be "running into the situation where the people at the agencies weren’t buying what they were selling, and they had to switch gears."