FCC opens public comments on T-Mobile-Sprint merger
You have until August 27th to submit petitions to deny the move.
If you have a strong opinion on the proposed $26 billion merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, now's your chance to tell the FCC exactly what you think of the plan. The agency is accepting comments as well as formal petitions to deny the merger until August 27th. Following that, the companies and supporters of the deal can file oppositions to those petitions by September 17th, while a final round of replies has a deadline of October 9th, as the schedule currently stands.
Anyone can file petitions to deny, and you might expect to see some from consumer advocacy groups and industry experts who may be concerned over the reduction in the number of national carriers from four to three. The FCC has laid out a 180-day review timeline to determine whether the merger is in the public interest, but that's more of a guideline and there's no required deadline for the agency to issue a decision.
While the Trump version of the FCC is generally more business-friendly than the previous incarnation, there's no guarantee the agency will rubberstamp the T-Mobile and Sprint tie-up. Just this week, the FCC effectively ended Sinclair's chance of merging with Tribune Media over concerns about TV station ownership.
