{"id":38121,"date":"2025-07-10T23:25:32","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T23:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/?p=38121"},"modified":"2025-07-10T23:25:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T23:25:35","slug":"public-knowledge-urges-fcc-to-block-or-condition-t-mobile-u-s-cellular-deal-eroding-wireless-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-urges-fcc-to-block-or-condition-t-mobile-u-s-cellular-deal-eroding-wireless-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Knowledge Urges FCC To Block or Condition T-Mobile\/U.S. Cellular Deal Eroding Wireless Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Today, the U.S. Department of Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/statement-department-justice-antitrust-division-closing-its-investigation-merger-t-mobile\">announced<\/a> that the agency would \u201cnot seek an injunction to prevent T-Mobile from closing on its proposed acquisition of U.S. Cellular,\u201d including U.S. Cellular\u2019s customers, stores, and at least 30% of its spectrum assets in a deal valued at $4.4 billion. As Public Knowledge previously argued in its <a href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-four-other-consumer-groups-in-petition-to-deny-t-mobile-acquisition-of-uscellular\/\">Petition to Deny<\/a> filed with the Federal Communications Commission, the elimination of a wireless competitor and the further concentration of wireless spectrum holdings runs contrary to the public interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following can be attributed to Harold Feld, Senior Vice President of Public Knowledge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is only the first of three major transactions dividing up U.S. Cellular among the top three wireless providers \u2013 AT&amp;T, Verizon, and T-Mobile \u2013 making up what the Justice Department itself calls the \u2018Big Three Wireless Oligopoly,\u2019 that \u2013 if all transactions are approved \u2013 will control 90% of all mobile customers and 80% of all available wireless licenses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAlthough the Justice Department has decided to take no action, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/statement-department-justice-antitrust-division-closing-its-investigation-merger-t-mobile\">its analysis<\/a> clearly shows these three transactions, taken together, will stifle future competition and inevitably lead to higher prices for consumers. As the DOJ declared, \u2018we stand at a pivotal moment for the wireless industry.\u2019 After a \u2018decades-long trend toward consolidation-by-acquisition,\u2019 the \u2018risks to future competition due to further spectrum aggregation by the Big Three are acute.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe agree. We have repeatedly called on the FCC to review all three proposed transactions together, and to consider their comprehensive impact on American consumers. This announcement provides further proof that the FCC needs to consider all three of these transactions together under its broader public interest standard, and do what the DOJ under its more limited standard could not \u2013 either block the merger or condition it in a way that enhances competition and protects the American people. These conditions should include mandatory phone unlocking so that customers can more easily switch between carriers.\u201d<br><br>You may view our <a href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/policy\/verizon-uscellular-petition-to-deny\/\">Petition to Deny the Verizon\/U.S. Cellular<\/a> deal as well as our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcc.gov\/ecfs\/document\/104260599308711\/1\">Petition to Deny the AT&amp;T\/U.S. Cellular<\/a> deal for more information. You may also view our <a href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-joins-four-other-consumer-groups-in-petition-to-deny-t-mobile-acquisition-of-uscellular\/\">Petition to Deny the T-Mobile\/U.S. Cellular<\/a> deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that the agency would \u201cnot seek an injunction to prevent T-Mobile from closing on its proposed acquisition of U.S. Cellular,\u201d including U.S. Cellular\u2019s customers, stores, and at least 30% of its spectrum assets in a deal valued at $4.4 billion. As Public Knowledge previously argued in its Petition [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-38121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release","tag-spectrum-policy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Public Knowledge Urges FCC To Block or Condition T-Mobile\/U.S. Cellular Deal Eroding Wireless Competition - Public Knowledge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. 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