NEW YORK – T-Mobile USA, which just had its acquisition by AT&T blocked by regulators, is urging the federal government to block another deal in the wireless world: Verizons planned purchase of spectrum from cable companies for $3.9 billion.
In a filing late Tuesday, T-Mobile USA said the Federal Communications Commission should stop the deal between Verizon Wireless, Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., Bright House Networks and Cox Communications because it would place an excessive concentration of wireless spectrum in Verizons hands.
With more wireless spectrum, a phone company can raise download speeds and serve more data-hungry devices like smartphones and laptops with cellular broadband.
Verizon Wireless, the countrys No. 1 cell phone company, already has a relatively large amount of spectrum, while T-Mobile, the No. 4, does not.
MetroPCS Communications Inc., the fifth-largest cellphone company, also urged the FCC to block the deal. It said the parties had not provided enough information to prove that the acquisition was in the public interest.
Ten public-interest groups filed their own motions to block the deal on Tuesday, ahead of a filing deadline on Wednesday.
Sprint Nextel Corp., the No. 3 carrier, took a more measured stance. It didnt ask the FCC to block the deal outright but said the agency should look closely at the wider implications of the deal, including the provision that Verizon Wireless and the cable companies market each others products in their stores.
The cross-marketing has already started in some areas, with Verizon Wireless stores selling Comcast cable service and Comcast stores touting Verizon cellphone plans.
Analysts hailed the co-marketing agreement as a historic shift, because phone companies and cable companies are usually bitter rivals. Verizon Communications Inc., the New York-based majority owner of Verizon Wireless, still competes with the cable companies in providing pay-TV and broadband service.