WEBVTT - T-Mobile, Sprint Deal Will Reshape Wireless Industry

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the Bloomberg Law Podcast. I'm June Grosso. Every

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<v Speaker 1>day we bring you insight and analysis into the most

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<v Speaker 1>important legal news of the day. You can find more

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<v Speaker 1>episodes of the Bloomberg Law Podcast on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud,

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<v Speaker 1>and on Bloomberg dot com slash podcasts. The Justice Department

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<v Speaker 1>has approved t mobiles acquisition of Sprint, a deal that

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<v Speaker 1>will reshape the wireless industry. Joining us is FCC Commissioner

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<v Speaker 1>Brendan Carr. Thanks for being your commissioner, Thanks for having me.

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<v Speaker 1>I appreciate it. So this deal will combine the number

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<v Speaker 1>three and number four wireless carriers in the country. Why

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<v Speaker 1>won't that necessarily cut down on competition in the industry. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I think the news today of the Justice Department clearing

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<v Speaker 1>this transaction, which builds on the FCC's announcement that will

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<v Speaker 1>also be voting to approve it, it's really a great

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<v Speaker 1>day for US leadership in wireless because what it does

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<v Speaker 1>is it accelerate to build out of five G to

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<v Speaker 1>of Americans. That's something that will be very difficult to

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<v Speaker 1>get butt for this transaction to make sure that rural

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<v Speaker 1>America gets a fair shot at this next gen technology.

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<v Speaker 1>So no doubt it will help five G. But what

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<v Speaker 1>about the competition in the in the wireless industry itself

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<v Speaker 1>Outside of the five G issue. This is a great

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<v Speaker 1>competition story as well, when you think about what it

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<v Speaker 1>takes to compete in this new five G world for

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<v Speaker 1>the first time, by combining Sprint and T Mobile, you'll

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<v Speaker 1>have a company of the same scope in scale that

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<v Speaker 1>today E, T ten Verizon already are. So we'll have

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<v Speaker 1>a third competitor of the same scope as those two

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<v Speaker 1>for the first time, and that I think is going

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<v Speaker 1>to unleash a new wave of competition. It's really going

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<v Speaker 1>to benefit consumers. There is still the obstacle of the

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<v Speaker 1>lawsuit by a group of states that say the deal

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<v Speaker 1>should be blocked because it would harm consumers. How big

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<v Speaker 1>an obstacle is that, I think the far diminished obstacle

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<v Speaker 1>in light of both the FCC's announcement in today's d

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<v Speaker 1>o J decision. If you look at those state complaints

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<v Speaker 1>that were filed or complaints by state A G s,

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<v Speaker 1>they focused very narrowly on wireless service in the biggest

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<v Speaker 1>cities in the country New York, San Francisco, and the

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<v Speaker 1>lens through which I look at this is very different.

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<v Speaker 1>Five G competitive services are going to get delivered to

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<v Speaker 1>those big cities regardless of what happens with this transaction.

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<v Speaker 1>But the question we face at the federal level is

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<v Speaker 1>how to make sure every other community also gets a

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<v Speaker 1>fair shot. And I think that's why this deal is

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<v Speaker 1>in the public interest. So this envisions or requires that, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>there is an opening for another competitor, which Dishes supposedly

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<v Speaker 1>going to fill. It's difficult to create a new competition

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<v Speaker 1>and a lot of the time that effort has failed.

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<v Speaker 1>What is going to go on here that will ensure

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<v Speaker 1>that that will not fail this time? Yeah, I've never

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<v Speaker 1>had a specific number of wireless providers in mind as

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<v Speaker 1>being necessary to promote competition and innovation in this space.

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<v Speaker 1>So the next steps will be a vote at the

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<v Speaker 1>FEC on the entire transaction, including the DISH pieces of

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<v Speaker 1>it that were run by the Department of Justice. And

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<v Speaker 1>when you look at the transaction as a whole, there's

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<v Speaker 1>no doubt in my mind, and frankly the voluminous record

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<v Speaker 1>we have at the Commission UH that it's going to

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<v Speaker 1>be a real good win for competition in the country.

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<v Speaker 1>How long before this goes through with with the lawsuits

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<v Speaker 1>and with the votes that have to take place yet, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know what the specific timing in terms of

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<v Speaker 1>the FCCS vote. I think our chairman has articulated that

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<v Speaker 1>he would soon circulate an order here and that would

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<v Speaker 1>trigger a voting process at the FEC that could take

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<v Speaker 1>a matter of weeks to a month or so, and

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<v Speaker 1>then the state process with their lawsuits will need to

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<v Speaker 1>be presumably wrapped up as well. But I think the

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<v Speaker 1>benefits that consumers are going to start to see uh

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<v Speaker 1>is pretty quick. Within three years, it's gonna be of

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<v Speaker 1>America covered with five GENE. Again, the difference between the

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<v Speaker 1>build out we could get without this combined transaction and

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<v Speaker 1>with it is a pretty big delta. Explain that. Explain

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<v Speaker 1>Explain the difference and why this will help with the

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<v Speaker 1>rollout of five G. Yes, So each company right now,

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<v Speaker 1>Sprint in Team Obile have announced five G build plans,

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<v Speaker 1>But if you look at Sprint in particular, it's a

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<v Speaker 1>handful of builds and a handful of cities that each

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<v Speaker 1>company right now has some interesting assets, but they're not

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<v Speaker 1>necessarily without this deal complementary assets. So you combine certain

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<v Speaker 1>spectrum holdings unique to each company, you combine the investment,

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<v Speaker 1>you combine the subscribers, and then for the first time

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<v Speaker 1>you get this ability to really accelerate the build out

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<v Speaker 1>beyond the announced plans that each individual company otherwise had.

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<v Speaker 1>And what about the US it's position with regard to

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<v Speaker 1>other countries as far as five G is concerned, How

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<v Speaker 1>well positioned are we? We've got a really good run

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<v Speaker 1>the last two years. At the end of we really

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<v Speaker 1>were at risk of seating US leadership in five G

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<v Speaker 1>to China, and we've engaged in a lot of efforts

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<v Speaker 1>of regulatory reform and this transaction is just the latest

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<v Speaker 1>piece to flip the script on that. So today, already

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<v Speaker 1>the US now has the largest five G build in

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<v Speaker 1>the world. This will build on that. Internet speeds in

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<v Speaker 1>the US are up about recently, so things are really

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<v Speaker 1>headed in the right direction, and I think this transaction

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<v Speaker 1>will build on that momentum. Just to take it back

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<v Speaker 1>to the ground for a second, explain why we need

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<v Speaker 1>five G. It's a great question. You know, a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of consumers say feel like they have one or no

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<v Speaker 1>choice for high speed home internet. They feel trapped with

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<v Speaker 1>purchasing uh their high speed connection from just one provider

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<v Speaker 1>in the area. One of the good things about five

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<v Speaker 1>G s you can now deliver wirelessly that same high speed,

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<v Speaker 1>high quality service that before you can only do through

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<v Speaker 1>a fiber or a cable connection. So by making this

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<v Speaker 1>leap to five G, it's going to open up the

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<v Speaker 1>home broadband market to significant increase in competition, which can

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<v Speaker 1>drive down prices and make consumers feel like they have

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<v Speaker 1>even more choices, and that's a great thing. Is there

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<v Speaker 1>any competition for five G or is it just five

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<v Speaker 1>G or nothing? You know, we're at this interesting point.

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<v Speaker 1>We've been talking about convergence in telecom for decades now

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<v Speaker 1>and we're seeing it. So wireless providers, terrestrial providers we

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<v Speaker 1>call them, are very focused on five G. We've got

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<v Speaker 1>this new generation of low Earth orbit satellites that are

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<v Speaker 1>coming online. They're gonna be higher speed than existing generations.

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<v Speaker 1>Where this new technology or a technology being improved called

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<v Speaker 1>fixed wireless, So we're gonna have competition from a number

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<v Speaker 1>of different technologies and that disruption is gonna be a

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<v Speaker 1>really good thing for consumers. All Right, thank you so

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<v Speaker 1>much for joining us. That's FCC Commissioner Brendan car Thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for listening to the Bloomberg Law Podcast. You can subscribe

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<v Speaker 1>and listen to the show on Apple pod Cast, SoundCloud,

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<v Speaker 1>and on Bloomberg dot com slash podcast. I'm June Brosso.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg. M M