becerra

A proposed California Public Utilities Commission decision published on Wednesday and scheduled for a vote on 16 April 2020 would allow T-Mobile to take over Sprint, and become the dominant mobile carrier in many Californian communities. The merger “is presumably anticompetitive” in at least some of those areas, according to advice from California attorney general Xavier Becerra requested and received by the CPUC…

We find that T-Mobile’s acquisition of Sprint will likely harm competition in 18 specific California markets for retail mobile wireless telecommunications services, resulting in higher prices and fewer choices for California consumers.

The T-Mobile/Sprint merger will be on the California Public Utilities Commission’s 16 April 2020 agenda, for a decision one way or the other.

Probably.

Yesterday, Karl Bemesderfer, the administrative law judge managing the CPUC’s review of the merger, issued a ruling that set a new schedule for the proceeding. He plans to publish a proposed decision by 13 March 2020, and he expects it’ll be taken up at the commission’s scheduled voting meeting on 16 April, which would allow for at least 30 days for the public to review and provide comments on it, per CPUC practice.… More

Opposition to the T-Mobile/Sprint merger is alive and kicking in California, as the California Public Utilities Commission’s review continues. The primary opponents of the deal – the CPUC’s public advocates office, the consumer advocacy groups TURN and the Greenlining Institute, and the Communications Workers of America union – replied to T-Mobile’s plea for immediate approval yesterday.

Like T-Mobile, the group – AKA joint advocates – made their position known in an email addressed to the CPUC commissioner and administrative law judge who are in charge of the case.… More

T-Mobile’s proposed takeover of Sprint was approved by federal judge Victor Marrero in New York yesterday. That leaves a separate, and more focused, federal court case in Washington, D.C. and the California Public Utilities Commission’s review as the final regulatory hurdles that the merger must clear.

Yesterday was also the 30-day public review deadline for the CPUC to post a draft decision that could be considered at its 12 March 2020 meeting. That didn’t happen, so the soonest the CPUC could approve or deny the merger will be at its 26 March 2020 meeting, unless 1.… More

The California Public Utilities Commission won’t vote on approving – or not – T-Mobile’s takeover of Sprint until mid-March at the earliest, assuming there’s no extraordinary attempt to speed up a decision. Yesterday was the 30-day deadline for posting a draft decision ahead of the commission’s 27 February 2020 voting meeting.

After that, the next scheduled meeting is on 12 March 2020. There’s no particular reason, though, to expect a draft decision to be published in time to make that meeting.… More

Advice from California’s attorney general hasn’t played much of a role in the California Public Utilities Commission’s review of major telecoms mergers in recent years, but T-Mobile’s proposed takeover of Sprint will be different. Attorney general Xavier Becerra’s forceful opposition to the merger will, all but certainly, figure prominently in whatever decision the CPUC makes.

When evaluating major transactions involving regulated utilities, state law requires the CPUC to “request an advisory opinion from the attorney general regarding whether competition will be adversely affected and what mitigation measures could be adopted”.… More

California’s attorney general has more than one roadblock he can try to throw into T-Mobile’s path to a takeover of Sprint. The antitrust suit that Xavier Becerra and other state attorneys general filed in a New York federal court is one possibility. Closing arguments were made in that case last week – the judge hearing it didn’t ask any questions, so there are no clues about what he’s thinking. His decision is expected in the late February/early March time frame.… More

T-Mobile and Sprint square off today against a coalition of state attorneys general in a federal courtroom in New York, during closing arguments in a trial to determine whether their proposed merger violates antitrust laws. It’s one of the last hurdles for the deal, which has been under regulatory review since 2018.

Approval (or not) by the California Public Utilities Commission is also pending, as is a separate, more technical federal court review in Washington, D.C.… More

The CPUC’s review of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger is likely to run for two or three more months. The briefs filed last week were the last item on the schedule set in October, but that’s not necessarily the end of the road. Rebuttals might be allowed. Other kinds of requests that might result in a delay are possible, although T-Mobile seems to have put aside the sandbagging and stonewalling tactics that cost it at least a couple of months of extra time earlier this year.… More