T-Mobile, Sprint step up merger push

T-Mobile and Sprint are ramping up their efforts to get regulators to sign off on their $26 billion merger, promising not to raise prices on consumers and tapping former public officials to help sell the deal.

T-Mobile CEO John Legere wrote a letter to Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), on Monday pledging that if the merger is allowed to go through, the combined companies will not raise prices on consumers for at least three years.

He also lashed out at the outspoken legion of merger critics, whom he derided as business rivals “largely employed by Big Telco and Big Cable.”

“To remove any remaining doubt or concerns about New T-Mobile’s prices while we are combining our networks over the next three years, T-Mobile today is submitting to the Commission a commitment that I stand behind — a commitment that New T-Mobile will make available the same or better rate plans for our services as those offered today by T-Mobile or Sprint,” Legere wrote.

“We believe this merger makes consumers better off, and we’re willing to put our money where our mouth is.”

The mega-deal, which the companies predict will close in the first half of the year, would combine two of the nation’s four largest mobile carriers, worrying many Democrats and public advocates who fear the impact on competition and consumers.