{"id":740683,"date":"2013-03-06T11:07:05","date_gmt":"2013-03-06T16:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=617323"},"modified":"2013-03-06T11:07:05","modified_gmt":"2013-03-06T16:07:05","slug":"justice-department-t-mobile-metropcs-merger-is-fine-by-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/740683","title":{"rendered":"Justice Department: T-Mobile-MetroPCS merger is fine by us"},"content":{"rendered":"

The T-Mobile-MetroPCS merger<\/a> may be encountering vocal objections from Metro shareholders, but the companies aren\u2019t hearing a peep out of the U.S. Department of Justice. On Wednesday, T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom said the DOJ has let the antitrust clock run out \u2013 typically a 30-day waiting period \u2013 without invoking its powers to investigate or block the merger.<\/p>

That\u2019s one major hurdle overcome to closing the deal, which would make T-Metro a publically traded company majority owned by DT, though it still faces regulatory scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission as well as vote from Metro stockholders.<\/p>

The DOJ\u2019s tacit blessing, however, isn\u2019t a trivial matter. The Justice Department has become much more actively involved in U.S. telecom deals<\/a> ever since it joined forces with the FCC to kill AT&T-Mo<\/a> in 2011. Since then it has thrown up a roadblock to Sprint\u2019s mammoth deal with Softbank<\/a>, citing national security issues. It also played a big role is shaping Verizon\u2019s spectrum acquisition and partnership with the cable providers, though it eventually let that deal slide through<\/a> despite its potential impact on broadband competition<\/a>.<\/p>

The fact that T-Metro\u2019s paperwork passed through the DOJ\u2019s offices without a word is a good sign that the deal will surmount its remaining regulatory hurdles without a hitch. While the DOJ has frowned on consolidation among the Big 4 U.S. operators, this deal would combine the smallest nationwide operator with the biggest regional operator and put T-Mobile in a much stronger spectrum position<\/a>. Since AT&T-Mo, regulators have been, first and foremost, concerned with maintaining the four-operator equilibrium at the top of the mobile market<\/a>.<\/p>

\"The<\/a>

The combined spectrum of T-Mobile USA and MetroPCS as compiled by Mosaik<\/p><\/div>

MetroPCS has set a vote for on the deal on April 12. The hedge funds opposing the deals want MetroPCS to negotiate better terms with DT<\/a> \u2013 creating either a less debt-laden final company or giving Metro shareholders a better payout \u2013 but so far they only represent a little more than 10 percent of the voting shares of the company. But DT seemed worried enough about their influence to issue a warning Wednesday to those stockholders.<\/p>

\u201cThe MetroPCS board unanimously recommends that stockholders vote their shares FOR all of the proposals relating to the proposed combination with T-Mobile,\u201d DT said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cThe failure to vote or an abstention has the same effect as a vote against the proposed combination.\u00a0 If stockholders vote against the proposed combination, there is no assurance that MetroPCS will be able to deliver the same or better stockholder value.\u201d<\/p>
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