Conditions Sought as State Reviews Continue in T-Mobile/Sprint
T-Mobile/Sprint opponents in New York support strong state conditions on the $26 billion deal, their representatives told us Friday, the due date for the second round of comments in case 18-C-0396 at the New York Public Service Commission. While not ready to support the deal, the Public Utility Law Project has moved from a position “tending toward telling the commission to deny,” said PULP Executive Director Richard Berkley. In the California Public Utilities Commission review, intervenor testimony is due Monday, with hearings planned this month and next.
New York should make conditions to ensure “comprehensive affordable broadband” and treat the MVNO market like the UNE-P market, Berkley said. Sprint-owned MVNOs like Virgin Mobile are important to low-income people, the consumer advocate said. In wireline, UNE-P “maintains access by competitors for wholesale leasing of an ILEC’s local network,” he said. “To maintain or promote competition and affordability, there could be conditions to maintain access to the MVNO capacity market of the two carriers once the merger completes.” New York is more likely than the FCC to adopt such conditions, which could be picked up by California or other states through “most-favored state” clauses, he said.
“If regulators imposed verifiable conditions that would protect jobs, bring offshored work back and ensure that the new T-Mobile respects workers’ rights, those conditions would definitely be in the public interest,” said Communications Workers of America Telecom Policy Director Debbie Goldman. CWA told the New York PSC Friday, and will tell the CPUC Monday, the deal now isn't in the public interest, Goldman said. It would kill jobs, while pushing down wages for non-union wireless retail workers, she said. “It will raise prices, with particularly harmful impact on low-income consumers,” not narrowing the digital divide, she said.
Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano (D) urged New York OK, writing in comments posted Friday that the carriers' proposed spending of $40 billion over three years will spur broadband deployment and economic development. The company's planned 5G network "will provide unmatched coverage and speed at an affordable price allowing our city's students to complete homework assignments and submit college applications while also providing our seniors access to tele-health services."
PULP and CWA earlier complained the carriers abused the process and didn’t give enough information to show the deal is in the public interest in New York (see 1811190026). Since then, the carriers said more to better satisfy that legal burden, Berkley said. PULP still wants more information about impact to competition, service quality and affordability. The consumer group is glad the carriers stated they will continue without interruption to uphold existing state contracts, including Lifeline for the poor and telecom relay services for people with disabilities, he said: “That they’re acknowledging the importance of their primary entities and also their subsidiaries for the low-income community is huge.”
“No date has been set for PSC determination,” and staff next will review comments and replies, said a spokesperson. The merging carriers didn’t comment last week in New York and will reply by Friday’s deadline, a Sprint spokesperson said. Berkley predicted the New York PSC could rule as soon as its Feb. 7 meeting, with review unlikely to drag past March.
New York should wait until federal regulators reach decision because the state’s process “hasn’t given the public appropriate opportunity to participate meaningfully,” said Goldman. She prefers the CPUC’s more comprehensive process. It includes hearings Jan. 15-17 in Fresno, Los Angeles and San Diego and three evidentiary hearings Feb. 5-7. The CPUC aims to decide by Q2 (see 1812100019).
Sprint and T-Mobile await OKs in Hawaii, Mississippi and Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission should clear the deal at its Jan. 17 meeting, the carriers said in a letter last week in docket A-2018-3003259. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities last month joined 13 other states needed (see 1812210042). On the federal side, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. and Team Telecom, comprising DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security and DOD, last month withdrew its request the FCC defer action (see 1812180044).