Benton Institute for Broadband & Society - Ownership

https://www.wsj.com/articles/verizon-to-buy-wireless-reseller-tracfone-for-6-25-…

Network Neutrality

Platforms

Verizon to Buy TracFone in Deal Valued at Up to $7 Billion

benton — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 15:24:14 +0000

Verizon agreed to buy TracFone, a provider of wireless prepaid services, in a deal worth up to $7 billion in cash and stock, further consolidating the US cellular market. TracFone, a unit of Mexico’s América Móvil SAB, has about 21 million prepaid customers in the US under its namesake brand as well as StraightTalk and Net10. The company doesn’t run its own physical network in the US and instead rides on other cellphone carriers’ systems for a fee and then resells service under its own brands. The move plunges Verizon deep into the prepaid market, a sector it has largely avoided by catering to more lucrative customers who pay for wireless service after it is rendered. Customers on prepaid plans tend to switch providers more often, which operators consider a risk. Verizon is the biggest US provider with about 120 million connections, but it has been competing in a mature market that is now dominated by three providers. TracFone, backed by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, grew into the biggest US cellphone reseller by catering to frugal customers through Walmart stores and other independent dealers. Its StraightTalk service offers data plans for as little as $34 a month. TracFone offers service for as little as $15 a month with limits on internet data as well as the number of texts and phone calls.

The deal is subject to approval from antitrust and telecom regulators. Federal competition enforcers have traditionally viewed virtual-network operators like TracFone as resellers of wholesale network capacity owned by companies like Verizon that own the cell-tower equipment and lines that carry their traffic, so the deal is unlikely to attract as much scrutiny as T-Mobile’s Sprint takeover did when it was announced in 2018. Verizon said it expects its transaction to close in the second half of 2021.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

Move would bring about 21 million prepaid cellphone customers to the biggest U.S. wireless operator

Source:

Wall Street Journal

Author:

Drew FitzGerald

Send date:

Tue, 09/15/2020

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 9/14/2020

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Mon, 09/14/2020

Coverage Type:

Reporting

Lifeline/Low-Income Consumers

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/business/media/t-mobile-sprint-merger.html

Judge Approves T-Mobile-Sprint Deal Affecting 100 Million Customers

Robbie McBeath — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 16:45:48 +0000

Private sector development:

Sprint|T-Mobile

Judge Victor Marrero of the United States District Court in Manhattan ruled in favor of T-Mobile’s takeover of Sprint in a deal that would further concentrate corporate ownership of technology, combining the nation’s third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers and creating a new telecommunications giant to take on AT&T and Verizon. The decision concluded an unusual suit filed in June by attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia. The challenge was brought after regulators at the Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission approved the deal. The states argued that the combination of T-Mobile and Sprint would reduce competition in the telecommunications industry, lead to higher cellphone bills and place a financial burden on lower-income customers. Once the merger is complete, the great majority of the nation’s wireless users would become customers of one of three major providers. T-Mobile and Sprint have said they do not plan to raise prices.

In his ruling, Judge Marrero praised T-Mobile, calling it “a maverick that has spurred the two largest players in its industry to make numerous pro-consumer changes.” He added: “The Proposed Merger would allow the merged companies to continue T-Mobile’s undeniably successful business strategy for the foreseeable future.” Judge Marrero wrote, “The court concludes that the proposed merger is not reasonably likely to substantially lessen competition in the” mobile service market, and would likely “enhance competition in the relevant markets to the benefit of all consumers.” The deal will create a new carrier with more than 100 million users. After the merger is final, the majority of Sprint customers will eventually end up having T-Mobile plans. Customers of Sprint’s prepaid brands, including Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Sprint prepaid, will become Dish Network customers. The original merger terms called for T-Mobile, the larger of the two companies, to effectively buy Sprint in an all-stock transaction that was earlier valued at $26.5 billion. Because of the lawsuit, the original deadline to complete the deal has passed, and T-Mobile has pushed to renegotiate the terms. The companies expect to close the transaction by April 1. The states could still appeal the ruling, and another US district judge in Washington reportedly must approve an existing Department of Justice plan for the merger partners. An approval from the California Public Utilities Commission also remains pending.

Benton Content:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/02/11/sprint-t-mobile-deal-wins-jud…

https://www.telecompetitor.com/t-mobile-sprint-win-court-case-merger-could-close…

https://www.multichannel.com/news/t-mobile-sprint-merger-gains-approval

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/02/11/sprint-t-mobile-merger-prices-go-…

https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/11/21132924/tmobile-sprint-merger-approved-feder…

Teaser:

The deal would combine the nation’s third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers and create a telecommunications giant to take on AT&T and Verizon.

Source:

New York Times

Author:

Edmund Lee

Send date:

Wed, 02/12/2020

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 2/11/2020

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Tue, 02/11/2020

Coverage Type:

https://www.benton.org/blog/do-we-still-care-about-diversity

Do We Still Care About Diversity?

benton — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 17:54:49 +0000

On Wednesday, January 15, the House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on diversity in the media market. In announcing the hearing, Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) said, "Since the Federal Communications Commission isn’t doing enough to advance media diversity, Congress must." So what's on the agenda?

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

Teaser:

Systemic, racist discrimination, lack of access to capital, and limited opportunities have resulted in women and people of color being shut out of ownership opportunities. The question is, will policymakers do anything about it?

Source:

https://www.benton.org/blog/connecting-challenges-our-democracy

Author:

Kevin Taglang

Send date:

Mon, 01/20/2020

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 1/17/2020

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Fri, 01/17/2020

Coverage Type:

Connecting the Challenges to Our Democracy

benton — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 21:26:00 +0000

We don’t need to rank in importance the issues of special interest money, ludicrous redistricting, and big media. They are each part of a linked democratic challenge. There can be no real democracy without curbing big money. There can be no real democracy without making Congressional districts representative of the areas they encompass. There can be no real democracy without an electorate informed by media that digs for the facts citizens need to help chart the future of our country. Bring these three abuses under control and democracy can flourish again. Only We the People can make it happen. It’s no spectator sport; it is a democratic imperative—for each and every one of us.

[Michael Copps served as a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission from May 2001 to December 2011 and was the FCC's Acting Chairman from January to June 2009. In 2012, Copps joined Common Cause to lead its Media and Democracy Reform Initiative.]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

Teaser:

We don’t need to rank in importance the issues of special interest money, ludicrous redistricting, and big media. They are each part of a linked democratic challenge.

Source:

https://www.benton.org/blog/while-you-were-googling-impeachment

Author:

Michael Copps

Send date:

Fri, 11/08/2019

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 11/7/2019

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Thu, 11/07/2019

Coverage Type:

While You Were Googling 'Impeachment'

benton — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 16:01:22 +0000

Obviously, there's no bigger story this week than the possible impeachment of the 45th president of the United States. But if we still have your attention, here's some items of note we found this week. 1) Court Again Rejects FCC Attempt to Loosen Broadcast Ownership Rules. 2) Rebuilding Communications Infrastructure in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands 3) Defining the Digital Divide.

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

Teaser:

How do you spell news without T-R-U-M-P?

Source:

https://www.benton.org/blog/moving-backwards-consolidation-deregulation-lack-acc…

Author:

Kevin Taglang

Send date:

Mon, 09/30/2019

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 9/27/2019

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Fri, 09/27/2019

Coverage Type:

Moving backwards: consolidation, deregulation & lack of accountability in the US media and broadband industries

benton — Tue, 24 Sep 2019 17:36:21 +0000

The US broadband and media industries are increasingly becoming consolidated, deregulated and freed of accountability, with little attention either from policymakers or the media. While Mexico is moving forward -- having recently developed new institutions and regulations intended to promote competition and accountability in telecommunications and media, the US is moving backwards. Competition in broadband and media in the US is vanishing as a result of decisions, big and small, by the Trump Administration.

[Gigi B. Sohn is a Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

Teaser:

Consolidation and deregulation with little attention

Source:

Regulatory classification

Author:

Gigi Sohn

Send date:

Wed, 09/25/2019

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 9/24/2019

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Tue, 09/24/2019

Coverage Type:

Speech

Internet/Broadband

https://www.benton.org/blog/media-government-us

Network Neutrality

Media, Government, Us

benton — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 18:28:49 +0000

The media merger pot keeps boiling. It appears that the Federal Communications Commission is about to approve another damaging deal, this one between Nexstar and Tribune. Nextar owns 171 television stations in 100 markets and Tribune has 44 stations in 33 markets. That translates into a national audience reach of 72 percent of U.S. households. The merged entity will be the largest broadcaster in the country, wielding an unprecedented amount of control over our local media. If, as expected, the Republican majority at the FCC green-lights this transaction, we can expect more reporter layoffs, closed or consolidated newsrooms, less deep-dive investigative reporting, and many fewer locally-originated programs. That’s the history of mergers. In short, more news deserts. Government is the tool of the people; government is the people—when the people insist upon it. Insisting upon it is what the 2020 elections should be all about.

[Michael Copps served as a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission from May 2001 to December 2011 and was the FCC's Acting Chairman from January to June 2009. In 2012, former Commissioner Copps joined Common Cause to lead its Media and Democracy Reform Initiative.]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

Teaser:

Government is the tool of the people; government is the people—when the people insist upon it. Insisting upon it is what the 2020 elections should be all about.

Source:

Benton Foundation

Author:

Michael Copps

Send date:

Thu, 09/05/2019

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 9/4/2019

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Wed, 09/04/2019

Coverage Type:

Op-Ed

Localism

https://www.benton.org/blog/engineer%E2%80%99s-view-department-justice%E2%80%99s…

An Engineer’s View of the Department of Justice’s T-Mobile/Sprint/DISH Strategy

benton — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 11:13:22 +0000

To address the loss of a mobile communications competitor that will result from the proposed T-Mobile/Sprint merger, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed a solution that seeks to enable DISH Network to emerge as a fourth national facilities-based wireless carrier. From an engineering perspective, however, DOJ’s approach to enabling DISH’s deployment is not guaranteed to prove adequate to maintain competition comparable to that currently offered over Sprint’s network. DOJ’s preliminary announcement raises a host of unanswered technical questions and, from what we know now, DOJ’s proposed solution would require years to enable DISH to develop capacity and coverage on par with what Sprint has today—with no guarantee that the proposed solution would be successful. The approach also is overly optimistic about the execution of the DISH buildout and assumes a level of coordination and cooperation among competitors that is beyond anything previously observed in the US wireless industry. Taken together, these questions raise doubt about whether DOJ’s solution will really serve as a technically effective means to enable a fourth mobile competitor.

[Andrew Afflerbach (Ph.D., P.E.) is CTO of CTC Technology & Energy. He specializes in the planning, design, and implementation of communications infrastructure and networks.]

Benton Content:

Benton Original Content

Teaser:

From an engineering perspective, DOJ’s approach to enabling DISH’s deployment is not guaranteed to prove adequate to maintain competition

Source:

Benton Foundation

Author:

Andrew Afflerbach

Send date:

Tue, 08/20/2019

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 8/19/2019

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Tue, 08/20/2019

Coverage Type:

Op-Ed

Spectrum

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-settles-t-mobile-and-sprint-th…

Justice Department Settles with T-Mobile and Sprint in Their Proposed Merger by Requiring a Package of Divestitures to Dish

benton — Fri, 26 Jul 2019 16:06:48 +0000

The Department of Justice announced that it and the Attorneys General for five states reached a settlement with T-Mobile and Sprint regarding their proposed merger. The settlement requires a substantial divestiture package in order to enable a viable facilities-based competitor to enter the market. Further, the settlement will facilitate the expeditious deployment of multiple high-quality 5G networks for the benefit of American consumers and entrepreneurs.

The Department’s Antitrust Division, along with the offices of five state Attorneys General (Plaintiff States), filed a civil antitrust lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to block the proposed transaction. At the same time, the Department and the Plaintiff States filed a proposed settlement that, if approved by the court, would resolve the Department’s and the Plaintiff States’ competitive concerns. The participating state Attorneys General offices represent Nebraska, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.

Under the terms of the proposed settlement, T-Mobile and Sprint must divest Sprint’s prepaid business -- including Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and Sprint prepaid -- to Dish Network, a Colorado-based satellite television provider. The proposed settlement also provides for the divestiture of certain spectrum assets to Dish. Additionally, T-Mobile and Sprint must make available to Dish at least 20,000 cell sites and hundreds of retail locations. T-Mobile must also provide Dish with robust access to the T-Mobile network for a period of seven years while Dish builds out its own 5G network. The Department and the Plaintiff States said that, without the divestiture, the proposed acquisition would eliminate competition between two of only four facilities-based suppliers of nationwide mobile wireless services. According to the complaint, T-Mobile and Sprint both operate mobile networks and offer nationwide coverage to consumers, and they are particularly close competitors to each other for the roughly 30% of retail subscribers who purchase prepaid mobile wireless service. The combination of T-Mobile and Sprint would eliminate head-to-head competition between the companies and threaten the benefits that customers have realized from that competition in the form of lower prices and better service.

Benton Content:

Teaser:

The Department of Justice announced that it and the Attorneys General for five states reached a settlement with T-Mobile and Sprint regarding their proposed merger.

Source:

Department of Justice

Send date:

Mon, 07/29/2019

Daily Digest:

Daily Digest 7/26/2019

DD Publish Status:

Not Available

Include summary in newsletter email:

Publish Date:

Fri, 07/26/2019

Coverage Type:

Press Release

Spectrum