bigsnake49

Pen & Pad briefing might mean that there will be no video and attendees will not be allowed to tweet or broadcast until briefing is over. Or the briefing might be postponed?

Is there a feed of the DOJ press conference? It was supposed to start at 11.

Did the states get an injunction? DOJ was working with some of the states to head them off at the pass.

You will get the official word at 11am with some but not a lot of details. Just the broad outlines. Details to come at 1PM and probably on Monday if they close on Monday. But it looks like the merger is approved.

It's about freaking time! I can't wait for the details! Will they officially close the merger on Monday the 29th?

The DOJ should have countersued as soon as the state AGs sued, basically telling them that this is our bailiwick and you have absolutely no leg to stand on (no legal standing to bring a suit).

Really strong performance!

The cable cos have had a long and troubled history with Sprint. They seem that they want to work with Sprint but then they stop. I don't know who's at fault.

Sprint was part of SpectrumCo that bought a 10x10Mhz chunk in the AWS-1 auction for $2B. That was for Sprint to deploy paying rent to SpectrumCo. But Sprint had financial problems and could not afford to deploy it so they withdrew from SpectrumCo. The spectrum was then sold to Verizon for $4B for a handsome little profit.

You remember that the AWS spectrum was supposed to be for Sprint but Sprint dropped the ball.

While we wait with baited breath for the announcement let's discuss what the cable cos are going to do in the future. Here's what I think will happen for each of the major cable cos: 1. Comcast - I expect them to be a major player in the CBRS and C-Band deployment via strand and pole mount small cells. They were starting to cooperate with Sprint in 2.5GHz small cells. Will T-Mobile follow through on that cooperation? I think they should. Comcast also has some 600MHz spectrum covering their footprint. Although they have the financial wherewithal to deploy it themselves, should they? I think they should let T-Mobile host their 600Mhz spectrum. Either way between small cells and 600Mhz they will be in good position to reduce their payments to Verizon for their MVNO. Charter - They are also going to be major players in the CBRS and C-Band small cell deployments. Will they continue cooperating with T-Mobile now that Sprint has been absorbed? Cox - They have no MVNO and they have a lot of Sprint small cells deployed. I don't see why T-Mobile will do anything to jeopardize that. Altice - Altice has cooperated closely with Sprint on deploying 2.5 Ghz small cells but it also has an infrastructure based MVNO so will T-Mobile follow through? Will the DOJ merger agreement force T-Mobile to continue cooperating on Sprint-initiated Cable Cos efforts? I hope so.

Uh, oh: NEW YORK (Reuters) - Charter Communications (CHTR.O) submitted a proposal to the Justice Department to buy telecom assets being sold under the T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS.O) and Sprint Corp (S.N) combination, but never heard back from the agency, three sources familiar with the matter said. U.S. officials decided to accept a deal to sell assets including Sprint’s Boost Mobile brand to satellite TV provider Dish Network (DISH.O) to resolve antitrust concerns, ending extensive talks on a merger the Justice Department is expected to approve this week. The Justice Department’s lack of response to Charter could raise concerns among critics of the $26.5 billion merger of wireless carriers T-Mobile and Sprint that officials did not weigh all divestiture offers before deciding on a deal with Dish. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sprint-corp-m-a-t-mobile-us-charter-c/cable-firm-charter-submitted-plan-to-buy-sprint-t-mobile-assets-sources-idUSKCN1UJ2T3?utm_source=reddit.com

AT&T also owns 700Mhz Block D and some of block E.

AT&T also has band 14 to use most of of the time minus what public safety is using at the time.

Hell, they can get a 600Mhz network with good coverage but not necessarily lot of capacity going in couple of years. Then they can thicken it with band 66 and band 26.

There are a lot of details that we are waiting on. Hopefully tomorrow morning it is announced and then we hear a lot more throughout the day.

For a brand new, from the ground up probably but I think Dish will do it sooner than 7 years. Maybe 4-5. A lot will depend if they can use some parts of the Sprint network.

At the end of a 7 year transition period according to the WSJ article.

I agree with that. Now if T-Mobile can make some deals to acquire more 700Mhz (AT&T?) to where it's almost national that will be great. Or if they can trade 700Mhz for 600Mhz with let's say Comcast or other 600Mhz holders that will be great also.

Yeah, I don't believe that. It will be a fixed amount a year for all of Dish plus a $/GB for the data consumed. If T-Mobile uses the capacity from Dish's spectrum then that amount will be offset. Think of it as a virtual MVNO that owns Dish's spectrum and is paying T-mobile to host it and can sell capacity to both Dish and T-Mobile. As far as accounting is concerned that would be the cleanest way to do it.

Where do you see that? What about the already existing Boost customers?

Well we don't know how much Dish will have to pay T-mobile for the hosting if any or if T-Mobile will get paid by additional capacity from the hosted spectrum. Dish as the new entity will probably have to give incentives to people to join its network or not leave it at least. That increases price competition which is what the DOJ wants.

Well, according to wsj.com, this is not half as bad as I thought. It was one of the items that I thought that they would have to do on their own. Now the article says that "...the ability to operate on T-Mobile’s network during a seven-year transition period, some of the people said." I take that to mean that T-Mobile will have to host Dish's spectrum for a period of 7 years. Now AWS-3 and 600Mhz no problem. AWS-4 a bit more problematic. Also, how much if any is Dish going to pay T-Mobile for the hosting of the spectrum.

I thought they would do something with band 26. Too many bands to support otherwise. I wonder what will happen to band 12? How long are they going to keep that around? Or will they purchase the rest of band 12 from AT&T? I feel that this is not the end of spectrum horse trading.

Then it will probably be better for T-Mobile customers in Seattle soon, assuming they can access Sprint's bands. According to Bloomberg, Dish is paying $1.5B for Boost and $3.5B for spectrum.