I’m going to say something a little controversial. Monopolies.. are bad. They limit consumer choice, weaken products, and give huge corporations an even tighter grip on the world. Technically we’re supposed to have laws against them. But the reign of today’s tech giants shows how useful those rules really are.
For some time now T-Mobile and Sprint, the bottom half of the top four mobile carriers, have been trying to become one of those giants by merging into a single entity that can truly take on Verizon and AT&T. Previously, the deal had been held up by over antitrust concerns. But today a New York judge ruled that the $26 billion merger can, in fact, go through.
Opponents argued that the merger would decrease competition in the mobile space, a space that’s about to get a lot more attention thanks to the race to 5G. What swayed Judge Victor Marrero though was that as part of an agreement with the Justice Department, T-Mobile would lease its mobile tech to Dish in order to build up a new rival in the space. Whether Dish actually becomes a meaningful mobile competitor though remains to be seen.
I’m pleased that a federal court has approved the @TMobile/@sprint transaction. Post-merger, the company has committed to bringing #5G to 99% of Americans within 6 years. The deal will also put critical mid-band spectrum assets to use. This is a big win for American consumers. pic.twitter.com/2ofEqxmDBq
— Ajit Pai (@AjitPaiFCC) February 11, 2020
T-Mobile and Sprint had already gotten approval from the Federal Communications Commission. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai celebrated the news on Twitter, presumably after coming up with even more ways to destroy net neutrality. The merger itself could happen by the end of this fiscal year before April. In the meantime, critics of corporate consolidation are pledging to fight even harder to break up these monoliths. For more, our sister site PCMag has a look at how the wireless landscape might change after this deal goes through.
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