Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on security issues in Afghanistan and South and Central Asia at the Dirksen Building in Washington, DC, October 26, 2021.
Tom Williams | Chongqing Roll Call Company | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — A group of Democratic senators are sounding the alarm on the issue T-Mobile Proposed to acquire a majority stake in American Action Corporation and asked the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission to carefully review and consider challenging the transaction.
The $4.4 billion deal announced in May 2024 would allow T-Mobile to use part of US Cellular’s wireless spectrum to improve its coverage in rural areas and allow it to gain 4 million new customers. six Democrats wrote in the letter. The plan will increase costs for customers and limit options.
“Further market consolidation will have far-reaching consequences, reducing consumer choice, further concentrating wireless spectrum holdings, and could lead to higher prices and other harm to consumers across the country,” the senators wrote in the letter. NBC Corporate Finance Channel.
The letter is led by Senators Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts) and Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), and includes Chris Murphy (Connecticut), Bernie Sanders (Vermont) State), Cory Booker (New Jersey) and Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) co-signed.
Under the agreement, US Cellular will retain 70% of the wireless spectrum and towers and lease space on other towers to T-Mobile.
Warren and Klobuchar have previously expressed concerns about T-Mobile’s acquisition and merger with Sprint.
In Monday’s letter, lawmakers also asked the Justice Department to consider undoing the merger, arguing it cost customers of competing wireless carriers billions of dollars.
The merger “eliminates a low-cost carrier from the market and reduces competitive pressure on remaining national wireless carriers to aggressively compete to lower prices,” the letter said.
A spokesman for US Cellular pointed to a statement released when the deal was announced, saying the deal would “provide UScellular customers with a more competitive choice as they will benefit from T-Mobile’s greater resources and expanded offerings.” Lower prices, the ability to plan more robustly,” and a better network experience. “
A T-Mobile spokesperson did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the letter.
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