WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senators Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic lawmakers expressed “serious concerns” on Monday about T-Mobile US, Inc’s (DTEGn.DE) plan to buy rival Sprint Corp (S.N), focusing on the planned deal’s effect on lower-cost wireless plans, Klobuchar’s office said in a press statement.
In a letter sent to the Justice Department’s antitrust chief, Makan Delrahim, and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, the senators said that they worried that the deal between the No. 3 and No. 4 wireless service providers would lead to higher prices for consumers.
“T-Mobile and Sprint have led the way in offering wireless products and service options that are more appealing to lower-income consumers, including no contract plans, prepaid and no credit check plans, and unlimited text, voice, and data plans,” the lawmakers wrote.
While AT&T and Verizon dominate the U.S. wireless market overall, T-Mobile is the most popular among customers who make less than $75,000 per year, and Sprint’s prepaid brand Boost counts 83 percent of its users in that income range, according to data from Kagan, S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
T-Mobile has 38 percent of the U.S. prepaid market, while Sprint has 16 percent, which would give the combined company 54 percent, according to S&P.
In addition to Klobuchar and Warren, the letter was signed by Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal, Mazie Hirono, Tina Smith, Tom Udall and Ed Markey,
