Sprint is one of the biggest opponents to the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile. So how is Sprint trying prevent FCC approval now? By giving AT&T some advice.
The nation’s third largest carrier is expected to deliver another filing to the Federal Communications Commission on Monday afternoon refuting AT&T’s claims that it needs T-Mobile to meet its customer’s demands.
Here’s a snippet from Sprint’s official statement ahead of the release:
Sprint will present a detailed technical analysis explaining how AT&T could increase its network capacity by more than 600 percent by 2015 without subjecting the country to the anti-competitive and anti-consumer harms associated with its proposed takeover of T-Mobile. This capacity increase could more than meet AT&T’s projected data service demand growth through and beyond 2015 for a fraction of the cost of its proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile.
AT&T could increase its capacity by developing its warehoused spectrum, accelerating its 4G network buildout, and implementing a more efficient network architecture, just as other wireless carriers around the world are doing today.
Although Sprint argues that consumer groups and members of Congress have sided with it on this debate, the mobile provider has been one of the few extremely vocal opponents to the deal. (Although some other public interest groups, such as Public Knowledge, are also reportedly submitting reports questioning AT&T’s proposals.)
Even Verizon hasn’t piped up as much, but Sprint will find itself in more of a hole than Big Red if everything goes as AT&T plans.
Plenty of other venture capital firms and tech giants, such as Facebook and Microsoft, have penned letters of their own in support of the merger’s approval, likely because they would all have something to gain. Obviously, Sprint does not.
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