Sprint + T-Mobile merger? YES!

I was ANGERED today from newspaper articles, i.e. USA Today and opinion by T Wu of the NYT, coming out against the merger of these two companies. But it seems to reason when their biggest advertisers are AT&T & Verizon...adding to this, were the merger to go through, these newspapers would lose about 20% of their income from telecom over the next five year. So, do not believe that news is NOT biased.

In both of these articles and others as well, they try to compare competition between Cellular Service Providers against one another as if they are the ONLY players in the Telco game. You expect this narrow biased view from newspaper opinion writers and columnists. Why? Because they usually are either from only the news media, academia or BOTH. People who never work a real job, never starve to make a business survive, live in a bubble outside the real world. Hell, I wish I could do that; but alas, I cannot. So, ask yourself... should you value the opinion of a lawyer, a professor, or an advertiser standing to lose millions in the future?

However, let us examine what the reality of anti-trust and fair competition is about. Plain and simple, it is where a company holds a monopoly (control/ownership) or near monopoly such that they can express undue influence across industries to the detriment of the public well-being. Honestly, if we only consider that there are 4 nationwide MNO's; this could be a risk to the public in reducing competition. But that is not the case. In fact, I would agree with all of these non-telecom-background writers; if the year was 1994 or before. (1994 is the year that the first telecom gateway (Vocaltec) was introduced which permitted telephone calls over the internet connected to POTS phone lines) However, today, telecom has converged and the number of players, both domestic based and international is flooded. For example, let us consider that a MNO under the theory expressed by these writers, against the merger, was about making calls. Today, the number of companies domestic and international who offer the ability to call someone (GSM, CDMA, VoIP, LTE, OTT app-based), is more than 680,000 as of 1/1/2018. Of these 680,000 only 492 hold a MNO-type license, 3201 hold an MVNO-type license, and a couple of thousand common carrier 214 licenses ( https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/ib/forms/reports/swr029b.hts?as_subsystem_code=ITC/INTERNATIONAL+SECTION+214&column=V_SITE_ANTENNA_FREQ.file_numberC/FILE+NUMBER&fstate=1/CURRENT&prepare= ). So what does that mean about the regulation of the rest...the 675,000!? It means they operate without regulation, zero oversight, do what they want so to speak.

Let me give you a better example. Do you use Whatsapp? You can text, send a file even a recorded audio file, talk direct to someone as if a regular phone call, and you can also make a audio-video call...FOR FREE! Well is anything really free? Never! The co-founder of Whatsapp has resigned from the company, reportedly because its new owner, Facebook, is misusing the data it obtains from users. Whatsapp has nearly 1,500,000,000 users around the world. That is FOUR TIMES the population of the USA.

But have you ever heard anyone say, let's make Whatsapp pay licensed telcos for using their backs to make money? NO, because the old Net Neutrality Law which was written by Google and Facebook, was designed to give OTT's a free ride. The public thought they were getting a free service when in reality they were giving up their privacy. Now since the FCC has reversed its position on NN, it is too late. The OTT's are super-giants and the public expects and believes they should not pay more. But they are, you are! Operators, MNO's have to charge you for data and data packages so they can pay their cost of doing business. So did the public win? NO, the fact is the public paid and will continue to pay. A SCAM.

What about the noted comments about China Mobile by John and Marcelo this week in their pitch over their merger? Is China Mobile a threat to US MNO's? You bet your ass they are? They have approached AT&T and Verizon through Wall Street a hundred times to talk buyout. To give you some perspective to the capacity of China Mobile, AT&T is #14 in size. China Mobile is #1. In the converse, Tracfone and Net10, major MVNO's (sub-carriers) contract through Sprint and T-Mobile for services. I point this out; because, these two companies are owned by America Movil, the 4th largest MNO in the world. Point is, they never tried to take a market position and work through US carriers with respect. So, if China Mobile were to come into play, the public would love them for about 4 years until they consumed the other carriers, then they would own the USA. Yes, did you know that the power of the USA is vested in telecommunications, real estate and transportation. We are the best at all three.

I have over 30 years experience in telecom and own no shares of any phone company nor OTT company. I am a consultant and no matter who is in business, they will call me anyway. So, I have nothing to gain by telling you the facts, the truth. This merger is good for everyone except AT&T, Verizon and foreign competitors. It is good for the public because it will enable the MNO's to pressure the OTT's to pay a portion of what they have to charge you in the future, thereby reducing your cost of telecom. It protects, US Commerce via capitalism against unfair foreign competition. It protects the public by enabling the current telcos to maintain profitability and stay in business to guarantee service to all American.

Remember that the news media is biased. It is a business. I do not agree with Trump about fake news, because he is the pro at fake news. But know the facts before you rely on opinions given by people who know less about telecom and international business than my 13 year old son in the 7th grade. Is there hype in John and Marcelo's public pitch? Of course, that is good business. If you don't believe what you are doing is great, then you cannot get excited about it, and they are. However, what they said is 100% true! I vote Yes on the merger of Sprint + T-Mobile!

Woody