Thread by @innercitypress

OK - it's @Tmobile - @Sprint trial Day 3, with questioning directed at showing Sprint as vibrant competitor pre- or without the proposed merger @SDNYLIVE patreon.com/posts/32248677 Inner City Press is live-tweeting the trial: thread

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Witness Jay Bluhm, @Sprint VP of Network Planning, is being asked about claims Sprint would "leap-frog" the market with first wide coverage 5G for mobile, in order to not be a "Me Too laggard."

Notable (mis) use of the term "Me Too."

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Now Bluhm is being asked about his role in "Plan B" for @Sprint in the event that the merger doesn't go through / is blocked by this case.
Much longer questions are being allowed in this bench trial than, eg, in this Bronx murder trial innercitypress.com/sdny6bronxrapk…

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Now Judge Marrero comes forward with a question: "Given what these metrics show, lack of capital and network investment lagging behind competitors - as an engineer, what does it say to you about the future of Sprint?"

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Then almost immediately Judge Marrero declares a break in the trial. His questions sure to be analyzed. patreon.com/posts/32248677

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Now NY Attorney General lawyer asks Judge Marrero is he can clear the courtroom for some testimony by Hakim Boubazine, COO at Altice. They are considering having the witness jot down information on a piece of paper - Mafia style. The decision is put off until end

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Now Altice's Boubazine is asked about DOJ's deal with @Tmobile, "are you familiar with that?"
Judge Marrero has shown what appears to be frustration at this testimony - on top of the request to clear the gallery of the courtroom. Score for the proposed mergers?

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Now Sprint lawyer Steve Sunshine is up to question Altice's Boubazine, he says for half an hour until Marrero's next planned break at 1 pm (when the gorging fest on the 15th floor, yesterday mixed with criminal case of shackled prisoners), mixed

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Sunshine: Altice is a public company filing an accurate 10K?
A: to the best of my knowledged.
Sunshine: I'd like to show you Altice's 10K. Defendant's Exhibit 7065, at page 12.
Objection.
Judge Marrero: Overruled. He is an officer of the company.

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Sunshine reads from the 10K, including listing as competitors TrakPhone and Cricket Wireless.
Q: Do you agree with that sentence sir? It's a yes or no question.
A: Mr. Sunshine, I am reading the document... I agree with the sentence.

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Judge Marrero, at 12:59, declares break in the trial. Thread to continue patreon.com/posts/32248677

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Now up: expert Carl Shapiro. After Judge Marrero urges them to skip over his 20 page c.v. and get right into it.
He does: the merger is anti-competitive. He'll go over this for the next hour or more.

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Q: What are the horizontal merger guidelines, did you have any role in them?
Shapiro: Yes, I took a lead on the DOJ side.
Judge Marrero rocking back and forth in his chair.

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Shapiro starts defining the relevant market - then turns to Judge Marrero and says, "As you know, your Honor."
Seems to wonder why the plaintiffs are bombarding Judge Marrero with basic information that he already knows, it is only annoying him, it seems.

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Q: How would the merger hurt competition?
A: Sprint was disruptive, and would be gone. T-Mobile was disruptive but would change.

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Q: Give some examples of Sprint being a maverick.
A: They work with Google-Fi.... and if Sprint is gone, who is going to do it?
Q: How would New T-Mobile hurt competition?
A: They wouldn't have the same motivation to compete.

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends Q: Let's talk about @JohnLegere... Does this merger have to do with his personality?

A: This is not about corporate culture, it's about economic incentives.

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends @JohnLegere Judge Marrero: Is there evidence of competition between Verizon and AT&T? Would they compete even more aggressively? Let me amend that, Part of the assumption seems to be that price is everything. I think you alluded to that these firms do not raise it immediately

@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @TmoNews @FierceWireless @peter_adderton @Cablefax @Benzinga @DigitalTrends @JohnLegere A: Remember, Sprint's market share is only 15%. But when people leave T-Mobile, 40% of them go to Sprint.
Judge Marrero inter-locks his fingers, leans back in chair. Earlier he was told, "It's your mind that matters."