Oct. 31, 2018, Fairfax, Va.—Americans for Limited Government President Rick Manning today issued the following statement in response to comments by Public Knowledge and the Communications Workers of America on the Sprint-T-Mobile merger:
“The proposed Sprint and T-Mobile merger is critical to the national development and rollout of 5G as it will allow both companies to combine their low and medium band spectrums to more effectively compete with Verizon and AT&T. In the race to 5G, what we need is more, not less, competition and if the FCC denies this merger, the results will be harmful not only to consumers but workers as well.
“For example, denial of the merger would hamper the ability of both Sprint and T-Mobile to consolidate research and development costs related to national 5G development and rollout, effectively relegating both companies to regional carriers. This would be particularly harmful to consumers in rural, underserved communities. Additionally, if Sprint and T-Mobile are not competitive in the 5G world, a lot more than 28k jobs could be lost, as they won’t be able to share the costs of infrastructure build out. This would create more pressure on employee salaries and their ability to compete with Verizon and AT&T. Despite the typical scare tactics of merger opponents, the move to 5G is actually expected to create 3 million jobs and fuel technological and economic advancements.
“Unlike the AT&T-Time Warner vertical merger, which combines content and distribution, the Sprint and T-Mobile merger will be a net plus for consumers when viewed in the context of what it will take our country to successfully get to 5G. This is a logical merger that will create jobs and bring more and better service to consumers, especially in rural America. We need to win the race to 5G and the only way to get there is if the government fosters, not stifles competition in this arena.”
Attachments:
“T-Mobile-Sprint merger will create more competition in 5G, boost growth,” By Robert Romano, July 12, 2018 at http://dailytorch.com/2018/07/t-mobile-sprint-merger-will-create-more-competition-in-5g-boost-growth/
Interview Availability: Please contact Americans for Limited Government at 703-383-0880 ext. 1003 or at media@limitgov.org to arrange an interview with ALG experts.
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