@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends Paula Blizzard's flurry of questions to Neville Ray didn't stick, it seems, at least not with Judge Marrero. Next he's questioned again by George Cary, about @MetroPCS / @MetroByTMobile. And now Blizzard re-raises that he's a hybrid fact / expert witness
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile Judge Marrero asks if a support witness will also be testifying, "in order to avoid this taking up more time."
Coming to the the stand: @Sprint's (& @SoftBank's @marceloclaure, questioned by Steve Sunshine who estimates it will take an hour. Thread will continue
Coming to the the stand: @Sprint's (& @SoftBank's @marceloclaure, questioned by Steve Sunshine who estimates it will take an hour. Thread will continue
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Claure says @Sprint made a lot of mistakes on technology which, given the business it is in, made for problem and "massive cost cutting."
Sunshine: Let's start with the cost cutting. How much?
Claure: We took out $10 billion in cost, mostly through layoffs.
Sunshine: Let's start with the cost cutting. How much?
Claure: We took out $10 billion in cost, mostly through layoffs.
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Claure: Sprint was losing $5 billion a year. So we decided to go in 2014 with a small cell network to avoid paying rent for towers. This way we could utilize our spectrum.
Sunshine: Had anyone else tried this?
Claure: No, our competitors used low band spectrum.
Sunshine: Had anyone else tried this?
Claure: No, our competitors used low band spectrum.
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Claure: I can assure you @Comcast remains opposed to this merger since it would hurt them.
Sunshine: What about Altice?
Claure: Same. There's no cable operator that supports it. They are monopolies and they knew that New T-Mobile would compete on in-home broadband
Sunshine: What about Altice?
Claure: Same. There's no cable operator that supports it. They are monopolies and they knew that New T-Mobile would compete on in-home broadband
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Sunshine: What about DISH?
Claure: We concluded that doing a merger with them, there would be no synergies, no new customers and the amount of money it would cost us to build a nationwide network, the combined debt was $48 billion. So it never got serious
Claure: We concluded that doing a merger with them, there would be no synergies, no new customers and the amount of money it would cost us to build a nationwide network, the combined debt was $48 billion. So it never got serious
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Sunshine: Can @Sprint get more funding from @SoftBank?
Claure: No. It's written all over our public filings. #Softbank is an independent publicly traded company that can only make investments that make sense.
Claure: No. It's written all over our public filings. #Softbank is an independent publicly traded company that can only make investments that make sense.
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Claure: What we've done for Sprint was to save it from bankruptcy. But we were not able to make it a long time sustainable company. With 5G coming, there's nothing more we can do with Sprint. Turn-around plan will not work.
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure And with that, Judge Marrero i soff the bench. Thread will continue patreon.com/posts/32336922
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Q: In 2017 you had some discussions with T-Mobile about a merger, correct?
Claure: Correct.
Q: Here's your Nov 4, 2017 press release - do you recognize it?
Claure: Yes.
Q: You said, best to move forward on our own. We have rich spectrum holdings.
Claure: Correct.
Q: Here's your Nov 4, 2017 press release - do you recognize it?
Claure: Yes.
Q: You said, best to move forward on our own. We have rich spectrum holdings.
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Q: Do you recall speaking at a Wells Fargo conference a few days after that?
Claure: Yes.... We had no choice. We had to continue to operate a stand-alone business.
Claure: Yes.... We had no choice. We had to continue to operate a stand-alone business.
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Q: I would like to talk a little bit about the Altice deal... This is an MVNO arrangement, right?
Claure: Correct.
Q: Cable companies like Altice have limited footprints, right?
Claure: That's correct.
[Judge Marrero has put his head into his hands.]
Claure: Correct.
Q: Cable companies like Altice have limited footprints, right?
Claure: That's correct.
[Judge Marrero has put his head into his hands.]
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Q: In the past, Sprint has assessed DISH's capacity to establish a fourth competitor, correct?
Claure: Correct.
Q: To DOJ, you testified that Ergen's latest trip is to build a network so he doesn't get in trouble with the FCC?
Claure: Correct.
Q: To DOJ, you testified that Ergen's latest trip is to build a network so he doesn't get in trouble with the FCC?
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Q: You mentioned for DISH a "meaningless thin network so he doesn't get in trouble with the FCC," correct?
[Judge Marrero is rubbing his knuckles]
[Judge Marrero is rubbing his knuckles]
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Q: So using WhatsApp, you wrote to not cancel the promotion, two weeks before the Senate hearing on this merger, correct?
Claure pushes back.
Q: I'll ask the questions, Mister Claure, you just answer them. You met with the NY AG, that is with my office, correct?
Claure pushes back.
Q: I'll ask the questions, Mister Claure, you just answer them. You met with the NY AG, that is with my office, correct?
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Judge Marrero first asks the NY cross-examiner how many questions for Claure she has left, through abruptly declares lunch break. Letting the corporate lawyers' feeding frenzy on the 15th floor begin! Thread will continue patreon.com/posts/32336922
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Now Judge Marrero is asking Claure question(s) before he leaves the stand.
Judge Marrero: T-Mobile turned it around, they're on the verge if the merger's approved of becoming #3. If T-Mobile did that, why not Sprint? Why does Sprint need a merger to turn around?
Judge Marrero: T-Mobile turned it around, they're on the verge if the merger's approved of becoming #3. If T-Mobile did that, why not Sprint? Why does Sprint need a merger to turn around?
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Claure: I've spend a lot of time thinking about that. And it comes down to spectrum. Mobile phones have become the most important and in some cases the only way for accessing the Internet. Under 5G, no one will choose partial networks
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Judge Marrero: Other witnesses here painted a very bleak picture, one said Sprint would be "sold for parts" in two years. What do you think?
Claure: I think we could go ahead & be a regional competitor, in dense area, with 5G pockets. We'd borrow money from banks
Claure: I think we could go ahead & be a regional competitor, in dense area, with 5G pockets. We'd borrow money from banks
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Claure: At the end, our competitors stopped reacted. We started giving away free phones, free lines. We don't have a plan that's fully baked if this merger doesn't take place. I was CEO from 2014 to 2018 and we made progress but now it's fading
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Claure: If the world was to remain static, we could be ok. But moving to 5G, we can't keep up. We don't have the spectrum. We're both companies that are going to struggle if we don't merge - in that case, the cable companies win, and AT&T and Verizon
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Next witness: current @Sprint CEO Michel Combes.
He quickly brags that he "turned around" France Telecom in 2002.
Q: Please describe the condition of Sprint when you arrived as CFO.
Combes: It was January 2018. I did a diagnostic assessment. Things were bad
He quickly brags that he "turned around" France Telecom in 2002.
Q: Please describe the condition of Sprint when you arrived as CFO.
Combes: It was January 2018. I did a diagnostic assessment. Things were bad
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Q: Mr. Combes, you testified that Sprint competes where Sprint has a network, right?
Combes: Yes.
Q: But you have accelerated your investments since 2017, right?
Combes: Yes. We have started to accelerate.
Combes: Yes.
Q: But you have accelerated your investments since 2017, right?
Combes: Yes. We have started to accelerate.
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Q: Mr Combes, please just answer my questions. I'm sure your counsel will elicit other testimony. Let's go to this Plaintiffs' Exhibit, from three weeks before the merger was announced. "Directors engaged in discussion with Mr. Combes about Tahoe and Diamond" [DT]
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Now Judge Marrero, before calling a break, says it's so hot in the courtroom he's asked for the air conditioning to be turned out. He added that if anyone doesn't want to come back from the break, he'll understand. Smattering of laughter. Thread will continue. 
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Next witness is Ankor Kapoor. Judge Marrero is told that the Q&A will include some sensitive information and so "code words" will be used.
Inner City Press: What, beyond Tahoe, Salt and Diamond?
Kapoor: We do network capacity planning process at T-Mobile...
Inner City Press: What, beyond Tahoe, Salt and Diamond?
Kapoor: We do network capacity planning process at T-Mobile...
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Q: Do individual consumer experience different speeds?
Kapoor: Yes, the speed is very localized.
Q: How we're getting to the sensitive information. I apologize in advance for the awkwardness. Explain congestion.
Kapoor: We measure speed at sector level.
Kapoor: Yes, the speed is very localized.
Q: How we're getting to the sensitive information. I apologize in advance for the awkwardness. Explain congestion.
Kapoor: We measure speed at sector level.
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure Kapoor: Because of increasing demand we had to double our threshold to meet consumer expectation.
Q: Are you expecting to raise threshold for 5G?
Kapoor: Yes, it will require a transformational.
"It will be the threshold on the sheet." [not public]
Q: Are you expecting to raise threshold for 5G?
Kapoor: Yes, it will require a transformational.
"It will be the threshold on the sheet." [not public]
@TMobile @sprint @sdnylive @dish @comcast @MatthewLeeICP @Mergers @geekwire @FierceWireless @Cablefax @mvnoblog @5g_innovation @Benzinga @CGasparino @DigitalTrends @MetroPCS @MetroByTMobile @SoftBank @marceloclaure As "public interest" merger trial day ends with testimony referring to non-public numbers on a sheet of paper, now TMO is adjourned until tomorrow, and even the Magistrates Court is done for the day, with three DC-bound defendants and little info. Stories soon.
