| Amid Merger Trial Sprint
Whistleblowers Complain of Price Hikes and
Collusion to Inner City Press
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Dec 17 – With the T-Mobile /
Sprint merger trial in its
second week, whistleblowers
within Sprint have approached
Inner City Press with
complaints out how they say
the public would face higher
prices, and say the plaintiff
States are dropping the ball.
One
issue involves Sprint's
extensive 850 megahertz
spectrum and the ways it has
found to use it - all to be
discarded and made more
expensive if T-Mobile takes it
over.
Prior to cutting spending in
connection with - or in order
to help gain approval for -
the current merger proposal
with T-Mobile, the
whistleblowers say, Sprint
found ways to use the spectrum
it has, including small cell
technology from providers like
Florida-based Airspan and a
company in Taiwan.
All of this is to jettisoned
if the merger is approved, and
more expensive contracts with
Nokia and Ericsson. The
whistleblowers asked Inner
City Press, having read its live
coverage of Sprint and
SoftBank testimony at the
trial before U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge
Victor Marrero, How can those
costs not ultimately be passed
on to consumers?
Inner City
Press in turn asked them, Why
haven't the plaintiff states
raises these issues? The
states didn't get or talk to
the right experts, one
proffered. Another said that
in her view, New York and
California are just trying to
salvage some side deals on
call centers and job
retention, not protect
consumers on price.
Meanwhile,
they say, spending within
Sprint is being cut in as if
to bring things in line with
the "damaged goods"
presentation by Sprint and
SoftBank bring presented to
Judge Marrero, and live
tweeted by Inner City Press.
One asked, Is this legal, to
begin coordinating in this way
even during the trial?
More on Patreon here.
Other whistleblowers, from
other parts of the proposed
merger and from the wider
industry, are starting to come
forward - watch this
site. The case is State
of New York, et al., v.
Deutsche Telekom AG, et al.,
19-cv-5434 (Marrero).
***
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