Support Builds for T-Mobile/UScellular Merger

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2025 – T-Mobile’s planned merger with UScellular, under attack by some, has in recent days seen support for the deal grow in public comments filed with the nation’s top communications regulator.

The Free State Foundation, the American Consumer Institute, the National Rural Education Association, and the Association of Women’s Business Centers have all recently submitted comments or letters of support to the Federal Communications Commission, which must approve the $4.4 billion deal that includes T-Mobile acquiring UScellular’s wireless operations, customers, and 30 percent of its licensed spectrum.

The Free State Foundation submitted an Opposition to Petitions to Deny, but it did not take a formal position. 

“The merger would benefit UScellular subscribers by giving them access to 5G services with faster speeds and higher data capacity. It also would expand fixed wireless access (FWA) services in UScellular’s service regions, especially in rural areas,” President Randolph May and Director of Policy Studies Seth Cooper said. T-Mobile is the leading FWA provider with 6 million subscribers. UScellular has 140,000.

In its comments, the American Consumer Institute said it was urgent for UScellular to find a big partner. 

“UScellular is a struggling regional carrier that covers only 10 percent of the U.S. population and yet accounts for just one percent of wireless connections nationwide. That means the acquisition is not large enough to impact market concentration, pricing, or business strategies.”

The Institute also noted that T-Mobile has announced it will offer cheaper wireless services to current UScellular customers, a move it said will benefit consumers.

Additional support came from the National Rural Education Association.

“By enhancing network capacity, reducing costs, and expanding broadband access, T-Mobile’s acquisition of UScellular’s assets aligns with the FCC’s goals of promoting competition and ensuring all Americans have access to high quality wireless services,” the NREA said in a letter to the FCC Wednesday.

The Association of Women’s Business Centers, which assists nearly 150,000 women entrepreneurs each year, said “this merger could yield significant benefits for rural communities, a segment of particular importance to many women entrepreneurs,” the organization said in a letter to the FCC. The merger will expand e-commerce capabilities, provide better access to essential business resources, and attract new business opportunities in rural areas, AWBC said.

Other public interest groups, such as Public Knowledge, have expressed opposition to the merger in the past, citing concerns over further consolidation of the market and the potential misuse of public funds that were not supposed to benefit the major wireless carriers.

Several Democratic Senators like Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., have also expressed concerns to the FCC about potential consumer price increases and negative market impacts caused by this merger, as these were issues that arose following T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint in 2020.