KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In a tight vote, the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday gave its approval to a proposed $26 billion merger between Sprint and T-Mobile.
FCC commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Jessica Rosenworcel cast dissenting votes, according to their statements after the vote.
Rosenworcel said the merger would make the market more concentrated and pointed to the airline and pharmaceutical industries as examples of how less competition can mean increased prices for consumers.
“There’s no reason to think this time will be different,” Rosenworcel said in a statement. “Overwhelming evidence demonstrates that the T-Mobile-Sprint merger will reduce competition, raise prices, lower quality and slow innovation.”
FCC Chariman Ajit Pai, who has previously expressed support for the merger, and commissioners Michael O’Rielly and Brendan Carr voted to approve the merger.
A spokeswoman for Overland Park-based Sprint said the company had "nothing to share on this at this point" on Wednesday afternoon.
The U.S. Department of Justice signed off on the merger in July under the agreement that the two companies would divest Sprint’s prepaid business to Dish Network. T-Mobile must also provide Dish Network with access to its network for seven years while the satellite television provider builds its own 5G network.
Starks referenced those conditions in a statement issued after the vote, calling them “paper-thin commitments that they contend will expand broadband access and the deployment of 5G.”
“But these promises cannot mask reality,” he said in the statement. “You don’t need to be an expert to know that going from four wireless carriers to three will hurt competition… Quite simply, the effects of this ill-conceived merger will hit low-income and rural communities hardest of all.”
The only hurdle that still remains for the merger is an upcoming trial in a case brought by attorneys general from 16 states and the District of Columbia. According to a Bloomberg report, the two companies agreed not to complete the merger until a decision is made in that lawsuit.
