Remember in September when Sprint CEO Dan Hesse strongly hinted that Sprint would try to buy T-Mobile if the AT&T merger doesn’t happen?

Well, Sprint is at it again – stoking that very possibility in a series of new stories today.  If there is one thing that investors, analysts and experts have made clear is that Sprint is in no position to merge with T-Mobile or any other company.  That’s aside from the fact that Sprint and T-Mobile share very different technologies that would take years to overcome.

Above anything else, Sprint needs to focus on getting its own house in order.

Over the last months, EyeOnSprint has covered Sprint’s many financial and technological challenges the company will face over the next years from funding their Network Vision plan, their rocky relationship with Clearwire, and the disastrous merger with Nextel.

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The action by the Federal Communications Commission on the AT&T/T-Mobile merger is a job killer at a time of 9 percent unemployment.

Our T-Mobile members know that the path to secure jobs is through massive investment in a 4-G LTE network across America.  T-Mobile management has clearly stated that the company doesn’t have the scale to justify that investment.  

AT&T has promised to retain 23,000 call center, retail and technical workers who now have no clear employment path. Additionally, AT&T has committed to return 5,000 jobs to the U.S. from Asia and invest $8 billion in new capital and broadband buildout.

The FCC’s decision relegates the issue of good jobs to the bottom of the government’s priorities.

Last week Judge Ellen Huvelle of the U.S. District Court dismissed most of Sprint’s claims in its antitrust complaint seeking to enjoin the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. Judge Huvelle ruled that Sprint and C Spire Wireless (formerly Cellular South) had not presented sufficient evidence of merger-related harm related to competition in the markets for wireless services.  Judge Huvelle also dismissed Sprint’s unilateral complaints that the merger would lead to Sprint’s inability to compete for wireless spectrum and network services, and would lead to anticompetitive effects in the market for backhaul services.

However, Judge Huvelle divided her opinion on roaming.  She allowed a portion of C Spire Wireless’ claim for harm in the market for roaming services to move forward, but dismissed the entirety of Sprint’s identical claim.  This division was based on the fact that a portion of C Spire Wireless’ customers currently use phones compatible with AT&T/T-Mobile’s GSM technology.  Sprint, on the other hand, uses exclusively CDMA technology, and does not have customers that are currently able to roam on AT&T/T-Mobile’s network.  Notably, only C Spire Wireless’ claims with respect to roaming on the GSM network survived; Judge Huvelle dismissed their complaint with respect to CDMA.  Finally, Judge Huvelle allowed both Sprint and C Spire to proceed with their allegations related to access to wireless handsets.  [Dow Jones, 11/2/11; Wireless Industry News, 11/3/11]

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Sprint, Public Knowledge can’t defend Sprint’s outsourcing and anti-worker record

A new analysis by the Communications Workers of America confirms that the AT&T/T-Mobile merger will bring back 5,000 net quality jobs from overseas and create as many as 96,000 additional quality jobs in the buildout of high speed wireless broadband to 97 percent of the population. The report will be filed today with the Federal Communications Commission.

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In an October 24 hearing, U.S District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle raised serious questions about Sprint’s standing in its attempt to join the U.S. Department of Justice’s attempt to block the AT&T/T-Mobile merger.  News reports on the October 24 hearing indicate that Sprint has a steep mountain to climb to convince Judge Huvelle that it has independent grounds to allege anticompetitive effects and consumer harm consistent with U.S. antitrust laws.  Judge Huvelle appears committed to remaining steadfast in demanding that Sprint show a separate, particularized harm to its ability to compete resulting from the merger.  She seemed skeptical of both Sprint’s argument that it need only show it will likely be harmed by the merger’s effects on the market, and the Department of Justice’s plea for assistance from Sprint in litigating the case.

While Huvelle denied Sprint’s motion to get access to AT&T’s confidential documents (“I don’t see it as efficient or fair,” she said), she has yet to rule on Sprint’s motion to intervene in the DOJ suit. The next status hearing is scheduled for Nov. 20. The trial is slated to begin Feb. 13, 2012.

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