https://www.techdirt.com/2023/11/07/verizon-att-customers-sue-to-reverse-t-mobile-merger-saying-it-raised-everybodys-prices/ [ ] Techdirt. [ ] * Sign In * Register * Preferences Techdirt [ ] * TechDirt * GreenHouse * Free Speech * Error 402 * Deals * Jobs * Support Techdirt [podcast-ti] Capcom: PC Game Mods Are Essentially Just Cheats By A Different Name Tim Wu Asks Why Congress Keeps Failing To Protect Kids Online. The Answer Is That He's Asking The Wrong Question Verizon, AT&T Customers Sue To Reverse T-Mobile Merger, Saying It Raised Everybody's Prices [legal-issu] Legal Issues from the merge-ALL-the-things! dept Tue, Nov 7th 2023 05:28am - Karl Bode We just got done noting how pretty much all of the criticism of the Sprint T-Mobile merger by economists and consumer advocates wound up being true. The deal has resulted in more than 10,000+ eliminated jobs, steady price hikes, annoying new fees, a weaker T-Mobile brand, and a lower quality product overall. It also clearly distracted T-Mobile from competent network security. T-Mobile's reddit forums are filled with employees saying the disruptive spirit of the company has been dead since the merger. T-Mobile customers are annoyed by endless new restrictions and price hikes. But Verizon and AT&T customers are also pissed, and are part of a new lawsuit against T-Mobile arguing that the merger raised prices for everybody due to the reduction in overall wireless market competition. A federal judge in Chicago last week ruled that plaintiffs made some decent points and the lawsuit should be allowed to proceed: "U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin in a 41-page ruling on Thursday said the plaintiffs "plausibly" argued that higher prices "flowed directly" from the $26 billion merger." The important time to protect consumers is before these kinds of competition-eroding deals are approved, but that very clearly didn't happen here. Trump regulators at the FCC didn't even bother to read about the deal's impact before approving it. Trump "antitrust enforcers" at the FTC actively helped T-Mobile avoid regulatory scrutiny on their personal time, you know, like antitrust enforcers do. T-Mobile's response to the lawsuit was expected: to deny everything and insist the U.S. wireless sector is secretly super competitive: Attorneys for T-Mobile called the lawsuit "unprecedented," and said the plaintiffs' damages were "speculative." "If plaintiffs are unhappy with Verizon and AT&T, there is a remedy available in the highly competitive market that wireless consumers enjoy today -- they should switch to T-Mobile, not sue it," attorneys for T-Mobile told the court. The harms of mindless consolidation are not theoretical. They're clearly documented. Yet we're dedicated to ignoring those harms because such consolidation is hugely profitable for a handful of over-compensated executives and a few key investors (sometimes). Rinse, wash, repeat, with nobody responsible for the end result getting within a thousand miles of introspection or accountability. I'd not expect much from the suit in terms of reform. Any payout will be a tiny fraction of the financial harm caused. The real fix lies in more stringent merger review and well funded and staffed regulators; concepts defenders of a broken but profitable status quo have no real interest in. Filed Under: antitrust, antitrust reform, competition, consolidation, high speed internet, mergers, prices, wireless Companies: t-mobile 18 CommentsLeave a Comment If you liked this post, you may also be interested in... * HBO CEO Used Fake Twitter Accounts To Troll Critics, Didn't Realize There Are Professionals Who Can Do That For You * Google Fiber Back From The Dead, Unveils 20 Gbps Fiber * Telecom Sector Sees Major Layoffs Despite Historic Stretch Of Tax Breaks, Regulatory Favors * T-Mobile Backs Off Price Hike They Pretended Wasn't A Price Hike * Google Search Default Payments Seem To Be The Opposite Of What You'd Expect For A Monopoly * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Rate this comment as insightful Rate this comment as funny You have rated this comment as insightful You have rated this comment as funny Flag this comment as abusive/trolling/spam You have flagged this comment The first word has already been claimed The last word has already been claimed Lightbulb icon Laughing icon Flag icon Lightbulb icon Laughing icon Comments on "Verizon, AT&T Customers Sue To Reverse T-Mobile Merger, Saying It Raised Everybody's Prices" Subscribe: RSS Leave a comment * Filter comments in by Time * Filter comments as Threaded * Filter only comments rated Insightful * Filter only comments rated funny LOL * Filter only comments that are Unread 18 Comments Collapse all replies [96cd3768f2]Glen says: November 7, 2023 at 6:45 am I was searching to see what they wanted. Sounds like maybe some kind of payout? I just don't see a judge going in and trying to put that toothpaste back in the tube. Collapse replies (1) Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word Threaded [2] [4f3bfd0691]Anonymous Coward says: November 7, 2023 at 7:51 am Re: ... Judges have no expertise nor fair methodology to determine if a business merger is "anti-competitive" and the Anti-Trust laws are extremely vague in legally defining what is an "anti-competitive" action by a business or citizen it's all subjective and political Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word [u15994_100x0-1]That Anonymous Coward (profile) says: November 7, 2023 at 6:48 am The highly competitive market with only 3 options, that do not offer the same coverage in the same places. Collapse replies (1) Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word Threaded [2] [1989d4d16e]Anonymous Coward says: November 7, 2023 at 12:49 pm Re: ... so if you open a new business, you are legally required to ensure there are at least 3 other businesses offering the same services to consumers in your area -- or you are guilty of Anti-Competitive practices ?? Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word [u1583_100x0-1]Dan (profile) says: November 7, 2023 at 7:34 am Didn't work, put it back... Ya, right. The ultimate solution would be for the government to order the breakup of all the mergers through the years, but that will never happen. Our government only has the gonads to go after those not capable of fighting (aka. individuals). I believe an economy is strongest when money is moving and not stagnant. The more entities exchanging money for whatever, the better. Mergers have a tendency to kill that flow. Collapse replies (3) Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word Threaded [2] [user-default]MindParadox (profile) says: November 7, 2023 at 11:57 am Re: Nope, the ultimate solution would be to nationalize the cell towers and internet infrastructure and force the corporations to pay a rent to use it, allowing for massively lower entry to market costs and benefiting consumers by making the companies actually have to compete with each other to provide a service that people actually want, instead of the current method of providing only the things that people will pay the most for. If you have an argument against this, my automatic answer is Chattanooga, and a mic drop. thanks for comin out! Collapse replies (2) Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word Threaded [3] [bc2934e625]Anonymous Coward says: November 7, 2023 at 1:18 pm Re: Re: Yeah, coercive socialism always works great .... Collapse replies (1) Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word Threaded [4] [d23c759784]Anonymous Coward says: November 7, 2023 at 2:13 pm Re: Re: Re: Put down the Fox/Newsmax Kool-Aid and back away. Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word [965a246a4b]MightyMetricBatman says: November 7, 2023 at 8:11 am One of the biggest cons ever pulled is businesses representing to the public they actually like a free market. What businesses consistently want is less regulation when they are small to make it easier to break in with less overhead regardless of the consequences. And when they become the established major players to have the protection of law such as copyright, patent, and trademark, difficulty to lay cable as broad as possible to prevent competitors. Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word [f5919fde4f]David Long says: November 7, 2023 at 8:23 am In your last sentence, that semi-colon is incorrect. It should be a comma. The sentence should read: "The real fix lies in more stringent merger review and well funded and staffed regulators, concepts defenders of a broken but profitable status quo have no real interest in." Collapse replies (3) Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word Threaded [2] [379111d73a]mick says: November 7, 2023 at 10:44 am Re: I noticed that as well, so thanks for calling it out. To put a finer point on it: Semicolons separate independent clauses, but the second clause in that sentence is not independent. Of course, I still see writers on Techdirt (looking at you, Tim) using incorrect phrases like "besides the point" rather than "beside the point," so I have no hope that proper semicolon usage will become a thing here. Collapse replies (2) Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word Threaded [3] [user-default]MindParadox (profile) says: November 7, 2023 at 11:58 am Re: Re: hey, if we can just get rid of "could of" I'd be happy Collapse replies (1) Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word Threaded [4] [507813713c]Anonymous Coward says: November 7, 2023 at 2:15 pm Re: Re: Re: Anyways... Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word [f3933c034f]Anonymous Coward says: November 7, 2023 at 8:33 am The point of the merger was to reduce competition, so that the carriers could price gouge the public. This is Citizens United working as intended. Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word [user-default]united9198 (profile) says: November 7, 2023 at 9:31 am T-Mobile I switched from Verizon to T-Mobile and have not experienced any issues relating to provider quality, and I am paying less now than I was before. That being said, the government has done a very poor job of preventing consolidation and mergers in every industry. The awful decisions by the FCC are not limited to cell phone providers. Every single entity that they have control over is having a field day merging and raising prices. Collapse replies (1) Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word Threaded [2] [ece917440c]Anonymous Coward says: November 7, 2023 at 10:11 am Re: I looked to swap to T-Mobile and their rates now are higher than what I pay at Verizon, and that's with an extra line added on my Verizon bill compared to T-Mobile. That said I'm not on the newer VZW unlimited plans that raised rates while removing features that they called "better", so maybe if I were on that T-Mobile would be cheaper. Hell, I looked because I'd like to get my child her first cell phone, but it's a minimum of $40 anywhere it seems for her to be able to send a few texts and make a call in an emergency. Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word [1fb1ec5e04]Anonymous Coward says: November 7, 2023 at 10:34 am If you thought the Sprint/T-Mobile "merger" (acquisition) was horrid, just wait for the Kroger/Albertson's (Safeway) "merger." Not only will prices soar but most grocery employee unions will be quickly busted. Collapse replies (1) Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word Threaded [2] [user-default]Bobson Dugnutt (profile) says: November 7, 2023 at 2:12 pm Re: I dread the Kroger/Albertsons/Safeway merger. The closest market to me is Kroger-owned Ralphs. In the last eight years or so, the shopping experience has been atrocious. This has been like this at the normal Ralphs stores; the Fresh Fare ones haven't been as hard-hit because they are all upscale. They have a hard time stock keeping. Either they are sold out frequently or don't have the staff to restock shelves. They are also understaffed. And Ralphs, Vons (Safeway) and Albertsons are the big three markets in my area. This will mean the shortages and understaffing will spread through the remaining stores, and a lot of them will have to close after a merger. Also, a store as big and cavernous as a supermarket is close to impossible to sell as real estate, unless it is demolished and turned into a giant apartment complex. This is a merger that needs to be stopped. Reply View in chronology Make this comment the first word Make this comment the last word --------------------------------------------------------------------- says: Add Your Comment Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here Name [ ] Email [ ] [ ]Subscribe to the Techdirt Daily newsletter URL [ ] Subject [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Comment * [ ] Comment Options: (*)Use markdown. ( )Use plain text. Make this the ( )First Word or ( )Last Word.(*)No thanks. (get credits or sign in to see balance) what's this? What's this? Techdirt community members with Techdirt Credits can spotlight a comment as either the "First Word" or "Last Word" on a particular comment thread. Credits can be purchased at the Techdirt Insider Shop >> [Post Comment][Preview] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] D[ ] Capcom: PC Game Mods Are Essentially Just Cheats By A Different Name Tim Wu Asks Why Congress Keeps Failing To Protect Kids Online. The Answer Is That He's Asking The Wrong Question Follow Techdirt Techdirt Daily Newsletter [ ] [Subscribe] Essential Reading The Techdirt Greenhouse Read the latest posts: * Winding Down Our Latest Greenhouse Panel: The Lessons Learned From SOPA/PIPA * From The Revolt Against SOPA To The EU's Upload Filters * Did We Miss Our Best Chance At Regulating The Internet? Read All >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- Trending Posts * Verizon, AT&T Customers Sue To Reverse T-Mobile Merger, Saying It Raised Everybody's Prices * Ohio Lawmaker Wants To Criminally Charge Minors Who Watch Porn to Protect Minors. What? * Capcom: PC Game Mods Are Essentially Just Cheats By A Different Name Techdirt Deals Techdirt Insider Discord The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel... Loading... Become an Insider! Recent Stories Tuesday 14:51 Police Chief Who Headed Raid Of Kansas Newspaper Resigns Rather Than 'Defend His Actions' (0) 12:50 When Even Hollywood Doesn't Want To Expand Copyright Laws To Deal With AI... (6) 10:45 Freedom Of The Press Foundation Calls Out Alabama Cops For Arresting Journalists For Committing Journalism (11) 10:41 Daily Deal: The Complete MATLAB Programming Master Class (0) 09:26 Tim Wu Asks Why Congress Keeps Failing To Protect Kids Online. The Answer Is That He's Asking The Wrong Question (11) 05:28 Verizon, AT&T Customers Sue To Reverse T-Mobile Merger, Saying It Raised Everybody's Prices (18) Monday 20:19 Capcom: PC Game Mods Are Essentially Just Cheats By A Different Name (28) 15:14 Spotify Changes How It Pays Out Royalties To Try To Stop Scams; Upsets Indie Artists In The Process (14) 12:31 Ohio Lawmaker Wants To Criminally Charge Minors Who Watch Porn to Protect Minors. What? (56) 10:56 Former DHS/NSA Official Stewart Baker Decides He Can Help NSO Group Turn A Profit (4) More arrow x Email This Story This feature is only available to registered users. You can register here or sign in to use it. Tools & Services * Twitter * Facebook * RSS * Podcast * Research & Reports Company * About Us * Advertising Policies * Privacy Contact * Help & Feedback * Media Kit * Sponsor / Advertise More * Copia Institute * Insider Shop * Support Techdirt Techdirt Brought to you by Floor64 Proudly powered by WordPress. Hosted by Pressable. [Got it] This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy