"With Dish Network owner EchoStar selling $23 billion in valuable spectrum to AT&T, any pretense that the TV provider will become a serious wireless competitor is dead. But the project was always doomed to fail, and despite plenty of assurances by the Trump administration and other companies involved, the very obvious writing was always on the wall. Back in 2020, the first Trump administration rubber-stamped T-Mobile's $26 billion merger with Sprint."
"The first Trump administration approved the deal without even reading the proposal. Trump's "antitrust enforcer" at the Department of Justice at the time, Makan Delrahim, was criticized for using his free time and personal devices to help the companies gain approval. T-Mobile also found itself under fire for ramping up patronage of Trump hotels to try and seal the deal."
"To downplay the harm from the T-Mobile deal, Trump officials worked with Dish and T-Mobile to construct a complicated plan they claimed would counter the harms of consolidation. Under the proposal, Dish would acquire Boost Mobile from Sprint - and valuable spectrum from T-Mobile - to cobble together a fourth wireless competitor and restore balance to the US wireless market."
Dish Network owner EchoStar is selling $23 billion in spectrum to AT&T, eliminating any realistic chance that Dish will become a major wireless competitor. The T-Mobile and Sprint merger in 2020 consolidated wireless providers and triggered warnings of layoffs, worse service, and higher prices. The Department of Justice at the time approved the merger amid allegations of inadequate review and improper influence by officials. A plan to have Dish acquire Boost Mobile and spectrum to create a fourth competitor failed due to regulators' weak oversight, entrenched lobbying by AT&T and Verizon, and Dish's lack of wireless experience. The spectrum sale confirms the plan's collapse.
Read at The Verge
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