Chairmen Pallone & Nadler Raise Concerns Over T-Mobile/Sprint Merger Approval Process

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission  Chairman Ajit Pai concerning the troubling lack of transparency, and an apparent lack of appropriate process, leading up to the FCC’s approval of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger. Chairmen Pallone and Nadler are troubled by the allegation that the original analysis drafted by the FCC’s merger task force may have been supplanted later with an analysis that downplayed the competitive harms of the merger.  The Chairmen believe the FCC provided an insufficient opportunity for public review and comment on material changes in the record based on the consent decree between the parties and the Department of Justice, as well as additional information submitted by the parties to the Commission. Chairmen Pallone and Nadler also expressed concerns about ex parte conversations that took place between representatives of T-Mobile and the FCC Commissioners, the filings of which may not have complied with the FCC’s ex parte rules. Chairmen Pallone and Nadler are requesting answers to the following questions or requests by January 6, 2020:

• Did the FCC seek the opinion of the Office of General Counsel regarding the possible need to provide the public with an additional comment period after the DOJ announced its consent decree, yes or no?  If so, please provide all communications during the pendency of the FCC’s merger review—covered by the Federal Records Act—between officials at the FCC regarding the need to seek an additional comment period regarding the merger review.
• Is the FCC investigating T-Mobile’s compliance with the ex parte rules, yes or no?  If so, when does the FCC expect to complete the investigation?  If not, does the FCC plan to open an investigation, yes or no?
• Provide all drafts of the merger order, including the draft originally circulated to the Commissioners, and each subsequent draft.