Minneapolis, Minn. - A new letter from 16 Minnesota community, advocacy, and civic organizations expresses concern that the proposed T-Mobile/Sprint merger will harm Minnesota consumers and workers and urges regulators and elected officials to reject the merger as currently structured. Addressed to federal regulators at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Department of Justice (DoJ) Antitrust Division, the letter notes:
"[T]he proposed merger would result in less competition, higher prices for consumers, lower wages for wireless workers, and hundreds of jobs lost in our state. Meanwhile, it would not meaningfully change access to high-speed broadband for rural areas of our state. We urge you to block this merger as currently structured."
The new letter, coming ahead of scheduled hearings in the U.S. House of Representatives about the merger, follows other recent letters expressing opposition to the proposed merger from Minnesota organizations and leaders, including:
Minnesota AFL-CIO: In January 2019 comments to the FCC, the Minnesota AFL-CIO indicated that they "strongly oppose" the merger, writing, "The elimination of overlapping retail locations would result in massive job loss" as well as "downward pressure on wages, benefits, and working conditions for remaining workers… To compound matters, T-Mobile and Sprint have had a long history of violating federal labor and employment laws. So this application should be rejected for its adverse effect on workers."
Saint Paul Regional Labor Federation: In December 2018 comments to the FCC, Robert "Bobby" Kasper, President of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation (SPRLF) expressed the SPRLF's strong opposition to the merger. The SPRLF is an umbrella federation of more than 140 local unions representing more than 50,000 workers, including those employed in relevant markets. In the letter, Kasper expressed concern that the merger would result in "harm to consumers in the forms of higher prices, reduced choice and, ultimately, lower quality service for low-income urban, and rural customers," as well as "massive" job losses …experienced by people who are displaced through the closures of retail prepaid and postpaid wireless stores as well as by people who are made redundant at corporate headquarters." The letter concludes, "T-Mobile and Sprint have failed to show that the merger would provide public benefits that outweigh the harms that the transaction will create. Therefore, the proposed merger is not in the public interest and should be rejected."
Below is the text of the new letter from 16 Minnesota organizations to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division. A version is also available online here:
We, the undersigned organizations, are deeply concerned that the proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint will harm Minnesota consumers and workers. As presently constructed, the proposed merger would result in less competition, higher prices for consumers, lower wages for wireless workers, and hundreds of jobs lost in our state. Meanwhile, it would not meaningfully change access to high-speed broadband for rural areas of our state. We urge you to block this merger as currently structured.
Eliminating the head-to-head competition between T-Mobile and Sprint would increase consumer prices by 10 to 20 percent, especially for price-conscious customers of the prepaid brands MetroPCS and Boost. Our members rely on wireless service for vital communications services and higher wireless rates and cell phone bills could mean no Internet access at all, widening the digital divide.
Additionally, the merger will lead to hundreds of lost jobs in Minnesota and lower wages for wireless workers. A detailed economic analysis by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) shows the merger would result in 272 lost jobs in Minnesota due to overlapping retail store closures. And a new study by the Economic Policy Institute and the Roosevelt Institute finds that the merger would reduce the wages of wireless workers by between $520-$3,276 annually.
We also see nothing in this merger to help rural areas of our state that need access to higher speed wireless service. Even Sprint and T-Mobile's own filings with the government indicate that even six years after the merger, 46 million Americans – largely in rural communities – would not have access to their high-speed wireless network.
We look to your agencies to ensure that mergers are good for working families and consumers in Minnesota and across the country. The T-Mobile/Sprint merger fails to meet that standard and should be opposed.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
CAIR-MN
COPAL
CTUL
CURE
CWA MN State Council
Education Minnesota
Jewish Community Action
Land Stewardship Project
Minnesota Nurses Association
MN350
OutFront
Saint Paul Federation of Educators
SEIU Healthcare Minnesota
SEIU MN State Council
Sierra Club North Star Chapter
Take Action Minnesota
Cc: Attorney General Keith Ellison
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