CNN: What T-Mobile-Sprint deal could mean for wireless prices

04.30.2018 / By Danielle Wiener-Bronner
CNN: What T-Mobile-Sprint deal could mean for wireless prices

Michael Copps, a former FCC commissioner and special adviser to the watchdog group Common Cause, said T-Mobile's strategy was a direct result of its need to compete with Verizon, Sprint and AT&T. But if competition is reduced, Copps said, T-Mobile will be less likely to think creatively about customer needs. "I don't see the benefits for consumers in a marketplace where Verizon and AT&T and new T-Mobile would be calling all the shots," said Copps, who was appointed to the FCC by President George W. Bush and also served during the Obama administration. ... Those and other expenses, like Sprint's hefty debt, could ultimately harm consumers and increase prices, Copps said. When mergers of this size go through, he said, companies put "consumer interest down even lower."

Michael Copps, a former FCC commissioner and special adviser to the watchdog group Common Cause, said T-Mobile’s strategy was a direct result of its need to compete with Verizon, Sprint and AT&T.

But if competition is reduced, Copps said, T-Mobile will be less likely to think creatively about customer needs.

“I don’t see the benefits for consumers in a marketplace where Verizon and AT&T and new T-Mobile would be calling all the shots,” said Copps, who was appointed to the FCC by President George W. Bush and also served during the Obama administration. …

Those and other expenses, like Sprint’s hefty debt, could ultimately harm consumers and increase prices, Copps said. When mergers of this size go through, he said, companies put “consumer interest down even lower.”