T-Mobile, Sprint execs defend merger before Congress

House Democrats on Wednesday pressed executives for T-Mobile and Sprint about their proposed $26 billion merger for the two wireless carriers, raising concerns about the impact on workers and consumers.

In the hearing before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, T-Mobile CEO John Legere and Sprint executive chairman Marcelo Claure tried to convince Democrats of the benefits of the deal, which would combine two of the country’s four largest wireless operators. But lawmakers were skeptical of their pitch.

“I appreciate both executives’ statements that they believe that this merger will benefit consumers and result in lower prices — and their commitments to an accelerated deployment of 5G and promises of expanded rural broadband,” said Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), who chairs the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

“However, I’ve seen a lot of mergers in this industry and others, and it’s hard to think of one where consolidation didn’t result in people losing their jobs, prices going up and innovation being stifled,” Doyle continued.

When asked by Doyle what was different about this merger, Legere argued that the “complementary nature” of the two networks will help expand access and lower prices.

“This is a unique merger where the outcome of this merger will be a significant increase in supply in the form of eight times the capacity that our network will make available,” Legere said.