ICLE on the T-Mobile/UScellular Deal

An ICLE issue brief on the proposed merger of T-Mobile and UScellular was cited by Law360 in a story about the brief. You can read the full piece here.

A free-market think tank is urging the federal government to clear the way for T-Mobile’s $4.4 billion purchase of UScellular’s wireless operations, saying in a new report that because the smaller UScellular poses no real competitive threat to T-Mobile, the deal could carry significant consumer benefits through increased competition.

Released Monday, the new report from a trio of conservative scholars and researchers at the International Center for Law & Economics claims that the deal would put the assets of a “weakened competitor” to more productive use under T-Mobile, and that without the deal, UScellular appears to be in a “worse competitive position” than even Sprint, which T-Mobile acquired in 2020.

“T-Mobile’s acquisition [of] UScellular will generate efficiencies that can be translated to consumer benefits through lower prices, expanded coverage and improved services,” the report says.

In particular, the report claims that the deal would help improve broadband access in rural areas by allowing T-Mobile to better compete with AT&T and Verizon in rural markets with UScellular’s towers and spectrum assets.