Executives from T-Mobile and Sprint faced tough questions from lawmakers on Wednesday, February 13, about how the companies’ planned merger would affect prices and jobs, especially in rural America.
The deal to combine the No. 3 and No. 4 US wireless carriers, struck in April, was approved by both companies’ shareholders in October and has received national security clearance, but still needs approval from the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission.
Representative Mike Doyle, who chairs the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee panel holding the hearing, raised worries about the deal because the US wireless market has just four main carriers. The industry leaders are AT&T and Verizon.
“It’s hard to think of one (deal) where consolidation did not result in people losing their jobs, prices going up and innovation being stifled,” Doyle stated.
Representative Billy Long, a Republican, expressed concern about lost jobs in his Missouri district. Representative Dave Loebsack, a Democrat, pointed to job losses in Iowa after T-Mobile’s acquisition of Iowa Wireless last year and said T-Mobile’s plan to buy Sprint made him “very concerned” about potential negative effects on Iowa.
Representative Frank Pallone, a Democrat, said T-Mobile had sent call center jobs overseas in 2012 and asked for legally enforceable assurances that the new jobs touted by T-Mobile US Chief Executive John Legere would not be sent offshore once the
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