Washington Bureaucrats Should Stay Out of T-Mobile-Sprint Merger

Today, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law will hold a hearing on the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. The hearing will include testimony from the CEO of T-Mobile, the Executive Chairman of Sprint, and experts on communications and technology policy.

Associate Director of CEI’s Center for Technology and Innovation Jessica Melugin said:

“The proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint should be allowed to move forward promptly and with no conditions attached to it by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Following this merger, T-Mobile and Sprint will be able to combine their resources, stay competitive with Verizon and AT&T, and hopefully help the mobile communications industry in the United States win the race to build the first 5G network.

“Regulators may think they are acting with the best interests of consumers in mind, but could inadvertently derail any progress made toward securing the future of 5G, doing more harm than good for consumers in the process. The free market – with all its price signals and nuances – innovates, coordinates, and corrects better than teams of lawyers in clunky Washington bureaucracies.

“Allowing Sprint and T-Mobile to merge without harmful and arbitrary conditions would be a good first step in recognizing the wisdom of the marketplace and the folly of antitrust regulation. For the sake of American consumers and our economy’s competitiveness, Washington bureaucrats should keep their hands off the future of 5G communications.”

Read more:

• Melugin: Discard Static Market Analysis, Let Sprint and T-Mobile Merge
• Melugin and Radia: Why the Government Should Stand Aside and Allow T-Mobile and Sprint to Merge

Jessica Melugin

Today, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law will hold a hearing on the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. The hearing will include testimony from the CEO of T-Mobile, the Executive Chairman of Sprint, and experts on communications and technology policy.