OTI Applauds Congressional Probe Into T-Mobile/Sprint Merger

In a letter sent today, House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) demanded that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) turn over documents related to the agency’s “troubling” review of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger. The letter echoes concerns that OTI raised last summer regarding the FCC’s secretive process, as well as FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel’s recent allegations that the FCC rewrote its original draft order at the behest of T-Mobile. Moreover, the letter alleges that T-Mobile violated federal ex parte rules by failing to fully disclose a series of FCC meetings that occurred shortly before the draft order was allegedly rewritten.

OTI has long opposed the T-Mobile/Sprint merger because it would raise prices, kill jobs, and worsen the digital divide. OTI supports the 14 state attorneys general who are suing to block the merger in federal court.

The following statement can be attributed to Joshua Stager, senior counsel for New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“We applaud this investigation. The FCC did not evaluate this merger in an honest and fair manner. The fact that Congress is even asking these questions is an embarrassment to the agency. The American people deserve to see the documents that the FCC is hiding.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. The merger at the center of this investigation would destroy the wireless market and exacerbate the digital divide. We’re grateful that more than a dozen states are suing to block this deal, but that doesn’t let the FCC off the hook for its shady conduct and total failure to protect consumers.”