Public Interest Groups Want T-Mobile-UScellular Merger Blocked
Advocates called for strict conditions if the merger proceeds.
Jericho Casper
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14, 2024 – A coalition of public interest organizations has urged the Federal Communications Commission to reject T-Mobile’s proposed $4.4 billion acquisition of UScellular, citing concerns over reduced competition, spectrum consolidation, and consumer harm.
“If this transaction is approved, more than 34 million Americans will lose a wireless competitor,” the petition, submitted by Public Knowledge, New America’s Open Technology Institute, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Access Humboldt, and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, argued Tuesday.
“Any transaction that completely eliminates a competitor for 10 percent of the United States population, while boosting just the top competitors, will harm the consumer,” wrote Public Knowledge's broadband policy fellow Peter Gregory and legal director John Bergmayer in their petition.
“This transaction eliminates the fourth wireless competitor in many markets,” the groups wrote, adding that the deal would strengthen the top three carriers — T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon — at the expense of market competition.
The petition raised concerns about the misuse of public funds, specifically Universal Service Fund dollars that UScellular has used to expand its network in rural areas.
“Either T-Mobile will cease to use many of UScellular’s towers…built with legacy High Cost funds, or will reap benefits from these funds that were not intended for use by a top-three national wireless carrier,” the petition argued.
In September, T-Mobile, in a filing with the FCC, said it plannned to use the spectrum acquired from UScellular to expand its Fixed Wireless Access service to challenge wireline ISPs in rural markets.
The petitioners also challenged T-Mobile’s assertion that the merger would bring significant public benefits, calling the claims “neither verifiable nor transaction-specific.”
They urged the FCC to reject the merger or impose strict conditions, including 60-day mobile handset unlocking requirements – the same required in the T-Mobile Mint Merger – and labor protections, if approved.
“Consolidation on this scale does not serve the public interest,” the groups concluded, urging the FCC to deny the application.
Earlier this week, the Computer & Communications Industry Association filed similar concerns with the FCC, warning that the merger could lead to higher prices for consumers and further entrench spectrum consolidation, with the three largest carriers already holding 78% of all available spectrum.
