Rep. Tlaib Circulating Draft Letter Opposing T-Mobile/Sprint

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., seeks House colleagues' support for a forthcoming letter to the FCC and DOJ Antitrust Division opposing T-Mobile's proposed purchase of Sprint. An earlier letter from Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and others endorses the deal (see 1901300044). The House Communications Subcommittee is to probe T-Mobile/Sprint during a hearing next week (see 1901280051). "While it may make business sense to executives, this is a bad deal for the American people," Tlaib says in the draft for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and DOJ Antitrust head Makan Delrahim. "The proposed merger would kill American jobs, reduce competition in the already highly concentrated wireless market, and raise prices for consumers -- with particular harm to low- and moderate- income consumers and people of color." Sprint doesn't "own the low-band spectrum which is ideal for rural areas," so the combination won't improve rural coverage, it says.