Michigan Joins Lawsuit To Keep Your Phone Bill From Going Up
So far, it's fourteen states and the District of Columbia; a joint effort to block a proposed merger between T-Mobile and Sprint, that just got U.S. Justice Department approval this past week.
After that decision... the states involved in the lawsuit expressed serious concerns about whether the deal with satellite TV operator DISH would create a fourth independent competitor that could replace the competition otherwise lost as a result of this megamerger. The states also expressed concerns about intrusive government market intervention, with federal regulators appearing to pick winners and losers rather than enforcing antitrust laws. - Michigan Attorney General's Office release.
T-Mobile and Sprint together have approximately 133 million subscribers, and are considered the "the lower-cost carriers among the “Big Four. Intense competition spurred particularly by T-Mobile and Sprint, has resulted in declining prices, increased coverage and better quality for all mobile phone subscribers," according to Nessel.
While not directly addressed by Nessel in the release, the questions about Dish are, while Dish is hoping to be a player in the coming 5G "revolution", will it have the resources to survive, given the rate of cancellation among subscribers to cable and satellite providers. There has been speculation of a merger between Dish and DIRECTV as a result of those declining subscriptions. And DIRECTV is owned by ATT.