T-Mobile apparently lied to government to get Sprint merger approval, ruling says:
T-Mobile apparently lied to government regulators about its 3G shutdown plans in order to win approval of its merger with Sprint, according to a ruling in a proceeding in front of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The ruling issued Friday ordered T-Mobile "to show cause why it should not be sanctioned by the commission for violating" a CPUC rule with "false, misleading, or omitted statements."
T-Mobile won approval for its 2020 acquisition of Sprint in part by agreeing to sell Sprint's Boost Mobile prepaid business and other assets to Dish, which is building its own 5G network and reselling capacity from other networks. T-Mobile agreed to make its 4G LTE and 3G CDMA networks available to Dish customers during a three-year transition period from 2020 to 2023, the CPUC ruling said. But T-Mobile now plans to stop providing CDMA network services nationwide on January 1, 2022, and Dish has urged government regulators to force T-Mobile to live up to its commitments.
T-Mobile's false and misleading statements under oath indicated, among other things, that T-Mobile would make its CDMA network "available to Boost customers until they were migrated to Dish Network Corporation's LTE or 5G services" and that Dish would have up to three years to complete the migration, the ruling said.
The CPUC can impose penalties against T-Mobile of up to $100,000 for each offense.
[...] The US Department of Justice said in a letter to both Dish and T-Mobile on July 9 that it has "grave concerns about the potential for a nationwide CDMA shutdown to leave a substantial proportion of Boost's customers without service." The DOJ said that either or both companies could potentially violate the merger agreement "if the network shutdown strands a substantial proportion of Boost customers, particularly if either or both parties have not taken all appropriate steps to affirmatively alleviate any such harms in the leadup to implementing the network shutdown."
While T-Mobile is forbidden from "impeding Boost's customer relationships, rejecting their lawful traffic, and unreasonably frustrating Dish's use of T-Mobile's networks," Dish is required "to pursue all available avenues to prevent a widespread loss of services to the customers," the DOJ said.
(Score: 2) by Taxi Dudinous on Tuesday August 17 2021, @02:15PM (3 children)
Ah. Of course.
It goes without saying.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Opportunist on Tuesday August 17 2021, @02:52PM
What could you comment on that? I can't even fake outrage anymore, it's just "yeah. Corporations lie. To government. Fine will be in the ballpark of a C-Level's lunch price. Aka "part of the operation cost". Business as usual".
What do you expect me to comment on that? One would hope for something like having them unravel the merger and split the companies up, have them pay for it and THEN ponder what kind of fine (in the "X percent of your annual turnover" ballpark, with X being somewhere between my diastolic and my systolic blood pressure) we impose.
Sure.
But how long have you been on this planet that you could possibly still expect something like that to happen?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday August 17 2021, @05:46PM (1 child)
Everyone is numb to the new normal.
This issue seems minor compared to climate change. Polar ice melting. Record high/low temps. Fires everywhere. Earthquakes. Floods. Hurricanes. Droughts. Increasing extinctions. People using the wrong pronouns.
Does a corporation lying even raise an eyebrow these daze?
The Centauri traded Earth jump gate technology in exchange for our superior hair mousse formulas.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 17 2021, @11:08PM
Honesty would be more notable.
(Score: 2) by Barenflimski on Tuesday August 17 2021, @03:25PM
Great... so they lie to them, they lie to me. Guess I'm not alone. I never did think I was special.
The one good thing this does mean is that my Iphone 4s will work for another few years. Who needs security when you have 3G?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 17 2021, @04:49PM (7 children)
The merger was allowed based on T-Mobile's lies, therefore it should be rolled back at T-Mobile's expense. Executives lied under oath and perjury should be worth at least 10 years in prison. Enforce that reliably and this kind of problem would stop.
What will probably happen: T-Mobile will be assessed a token fine and victory will be declared, then the fine will be overturned on appeal.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by PinkyGigglebrain on Tuesday August 17 2021, @04:56PM (6 children)
but won't be.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday August 17 2021, @07:43PM (4 children)
So where are we?
(Score: 2) by weilawei on Tuesday August 17 2021, @09:22PM (3 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 17 2021, @09:33PM
And the oligarchs are bound and determined to cause another collapse.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday August 17 2021, @10:27PM (1 child)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 18 2021, @12:19PM
If the Roman empire was any indication then 250 years per phase or more isn't unreasonable. Also, there should be a 'Despot' phase after oligarchy because that is how pretty much every democracy in history has died: When the oligarchy gets bad enough for long enough someone will take complete control, either by force or through 'emergency measures'. That individual typically survives for about five years* before they are overthrown and/or murdered and a race to the bottom starts as different factions fight for control, usually ending in dissolution and anarchy.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday August 17 2021, @09:53PM
Thanks for the shout-out. Although in this case, I'd see it more as a function of just the sheer amount of corruption around right now in the allegedly-civilized world, which isn't really a function of the form of government so much as the diligence or lack thereof of that governments' leadership, which in turn makes it more a matter of how close we are to a change in government.
And it doesn't *always* happen in this order, e.g. the Caesars turning the at-least-somewhat democratic Roman Republic into a monarchy without really going through anarchy.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin