It almost goes without saying that Sprint has probably been opposed to AT&T?s recent proposed purchase of rival cell phone carrier T-Mobile.
Now it?s official.
On Monday afternoon, Sprint issued a press release publicly condemning the potential merger between the two carriers, asking the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. In the release, the company claims a takeover of this proportion ?would reverse nearly three decades of actions by the U.S. government and the courts that modernized and opened U.S. communications markets to competition.?
The argument cites an approval as very bad news for Sprint, which would rank in last place in U.S. wireless providers behind Verizon and AT&T if the deal went through:
AT&T and Verizon are already by far the largest wireless providers. If approved, the proposed acquisition would create a combined company that would be almost three times the size of Sprint in terms of wireless revenue and would entrench AT&T?s and Verizon?s duopoly control over the wireless market. The wireless industry moving forward would be dominated overwhelmingly by two vertically integrated companies with unprecedented control over the U.S.�wireless post-paid market, as well as�the availability and price of�key inputs,�such as backhaul and access needed by other�wireless companies to compete.
But the statement reads as an appeal almost as much to the general public as it does to the government agencies monitoring the case. The company claims the ?Ma Bell duopoly? created by the potential takeover will harm consumers ?at a time when the country can least afford it.?
AT&T?s statement of intent, issued on March 20, defends the deal in a more attractive appeal to rural cellular subscriber, claiming the extension of coverage to ?95% of the U.S. population,? or an ?additional 46.5 million Americans, including [those] in rural, smaller communities.?
The deal is still being reviewed by the DoJ and the FCC.
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