The T-Mobile / Sprint merger should be stopped, say antitrust experts

In a new filing, a group of seven economists and antitrust experts say a court should reject the Department of Justice’s proposed solution for the T-Mobile/Sprint transaction, calling it “doom[ed] ... to failure” and “a remedy that does not meet the standard of restoring the competition currently provided by Sprint.” For at least the next seven years, anyone buying service from Dish will just be getting rebranded T-Mobile service, and that’s not actual competition. Beyond that, it’s not a sure bet that Dish will ever actually build its own network, and even if it does, it’s all but certain that network won’t reach as many people as Sprint. 

The filing is intended to convince the court to block the merger before it takes effect. Technically, the DOJ filed a complaint in court to block the merger, and simultaneously filed the settlement containing the deal with T-Mobile and Dish. That settlement still has to be approved in federal court as serving the public interest. If the court isn’t convinced that the deal restores competition, then it could be rejected, potentially leaving T-Mobile back at square one.