AG James: Illinois Adds To States' Momentum By Joining Lawsuit Blocking T-Mobile/sprint Megamerger

AG James: Illinois Adds to States’ Momentum by Joining Lawsuit Blocking T-Mobile/Sprint Megamerger

More Than Half the U.S. Population Now Represented by States Involved in Lawsuit

AG Raoul Becomes 17^th AG to Join Suit

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced that the State of Illinois has agreed to join the multistate lawsuit blocking the anticompetitive megamerger of telecommunications giants T-Mobile and Sprint, adding to the states’ momentum.

“With Illinois’ addition to our lawsuit, more than half the U.S. population is now represented by states that are suing to block the anticompetitive megamerger of T-Mobile and Sprint,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “We welcome Attorney General Raoul to our growing coalition that now includes 17 attorneys general, all who have opposed this merger because it remains bad for consumers, bad for workers, and bad for innovation.”

“This merger would significantly decrease competition for mobile wireless telecommunications services in Illinois and across the country,” said Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. “With fewer companies competing, customers would face fewer choices, higher prices, less innovation and lower quality service. I am proud to stand with my counterparts in taking action to protect consumers.”

Attorney General Raoul will become the 17^th Attorney General to challenge the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint, adding to the momentum of the multistate lawsuit initiated by Attorney General James and the Attorneys General of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

Illinois is not only the sixth most populous state and home to the third most populous city in the nation, but is an industrial, agricultural, and transportation hub for the United States — making it as highly susceptible to the harms of a megamerger between T-Mobile and Sprint as the other states already involved in the lawsuit. As with the other litigating states, the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint would eliminate the benefits that intense competition has brought to Illinois residents and the rest of the heartland.

T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corporation are the third and fourth largest mobile wireless networks in the U.S., and are the lower-cost carriers among the “Big Four” — Verizon Wireless and AT&T round out the market. Intense competition, spurred in particular by T-Mobile and Sprint, has meant declining prices, increased coverage, and better quality for all mobile phone subscribers.

T-Mobile currently has more than 79 million subscribers, and is a majority-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG. Sprint currently has more than 54 million subscribers, and is a majority-owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp.

The matter is being handled by Antitrust Bureau Chief Beau Buffier; Deputy Antitrust Bureau Chief Elinor R. Hoffmann; Chief Economist Peter Malaspina; Assistant Attorneys General Alejandro Awad Cherit, Morgan Feder, Michael Jo, Jeremy R. Kasha, Beatriz Marques, Javier Ortega, Kris Perez Hicks, Amber Wessels-Yen, and James Yoon; Legal Assistant Arlene Leventhal; and Chief Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice Christopher D’Angelo.