Analysis: Sprint/T-Mobile commitments may not go far enough for DOJ
From S&P Global:
“I think the Boost divestiture, given that it would be sold probably to an existing MVNO, or potentially a new entrant with deep pockets, would be a way to increase competition in the market,” Struble said in an interview.
Struble noted that while the U.S. wireless market could soon be moving from four nationwide competitors to three — Verizon Communications Inc., AT&T Inc. and the new T-Mobile — it will likely soon expand to five or six competitors because of MVNOs or “other sorts of new entrants in the mobile wireless ecosystem that are right around the corner, or already getting their networks up and running,” Struble said.
“We think even losing Sprint today, the market [will] remain very competitive going forward, because it’s not going to be just those three companies competing with each other. It’s actually going to be these new cable guys and tech companies, and maybe the satellite companies as well … I think that is what structurally would be appealing to Delrahim,” added Struble.
Struble notes, however, that HHI scores do not always tell the full picture of competition.
“Just watching HHIs, they have continued to go up and up as the market has gotten more concentrated, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s gotten less competitive, because, if you try and look at competition, you care mostly about innovation, and quality and prices,” Struble said.
