Dish Buying Gen Mobile, DOJ Asked to Review Alleged Facebook-Google Collusion, STL’s New CEO
Dish wants low-cost prepaid business Gen Mobile, Members of Congress want investigation into Facebook-Google, STL appoints Paul Atkinson.
Ahmad Hathout
September 2, 2021 – Dish Network’s Boost Mobile said Wednesday that it plans to acquire Gen Mobile, a Los-Angeles-based prepaid and low-cost mobile service company.
The proposed deal, which is still subject to regulatory approval, will expand Dish Network’s relatively new foray into the wireless business. Boost Mobile spawned from assets acquired as a condition for regulators to approve T-Mobile’s purchase of Sprint, which closed last year.
Gen Mobile offers wireless plans as low as $10 per month, which Boost said factors into its thesis that the deal will help close the digital divide. Boost is participating in the high-demand Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which offers broadband subsidies to low-income households.
“Gen Mobile will be integral in Boost’s efforts to close the digital divide,” Boost said in a Wednesday press release. “Gen Mobile will continue to sell its low-cost wireless plans starting at just $10—with other cost-efficient plans to come—and will also accelerate its EBB and Lifeline growth.”
The financials were not disclosed.
Members of Congress ask DOJ to review alleged Facebook-Google ad buy collusion
Four members of Congress have asked the Department of Justice Tuesday to dig into allegations that Facebook and Google colluded to ensure that neither hindered each other’s performance in the digital advertising space.
The claims relate to a deal, called “Jedi Blue,” the two companies allegedly struck in 2018 in which Facebook would get a fixed percentage of advertising bids on Google’s platform in exchange for Facebook not engaging in technology that would threaten Google’s ad display performance. It is widely reported that Facebook and Google own most of the digital advertising market.
The technology Google sought to kill was called “header bidding,” according to the letter, which would allow Facebook to solicit bids for ads from multiple exchanges instead of relying on Google’s own.
Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, as well as Reps. Primaya Jayapal, D-Washington, and Mondaire Jones, D-New York said in a Tuesday letter that, if true, the deal would be a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which criminalizes making a contract “in restraint of trade or commerce.”
The deal was outed – and Google admitted its existence – as part of a wider antitrust lawsuit brought by several states against the search engine giant.
STL appoints Paul Atkinson as CEO of optical networking business
STL, a company focused on integrating digital networks, said Thursday it has appointed Paul Atkinson as CEO for its optical networking business.
Atkinson will replace Ankit Agarwal, who participating in a number of acquisitions that spanned parts of Europe, Asia and South America and will no be a director on the company’s board.
Prior to joining STL, Atkinson was managing director and group CEO at Ixom, Australia.
The business delivers optical networking products to telecoms, cloud companies, governments and enterprises worldwide.
