Thread by @innercitypress

OK - @Tmobile @Sprint merger trial Day 7 has started back up on a delay, the T-Mobile tech Kapoor bragging about 5G - but what's the response on higher costs passed on to consumers, per what #Sprint whistleblowers say? patreon.com/posts/32418373 - thread

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga Q: What is millimeter wave?
Kapoor: It's not used for 4G.
[brief juggling with Parnas bond hearing - worlds collide] thread will continue

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga Q: Back to the Montana model, has that been updated?
Kapoor: Given that it was a forward looking plan, we have not updated it.
Q: So it's as old as 18 months. And have not updated the spectrum deployment data?
Kapoor: We didn't see a need.
Q: Not my question.

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga Q: And now that Sprint has launched 5G in nine cities, have you updated with that?
Kapoor: No.
Q: Did you update the Montana model of Professor Katz with the possibility that Sprint might deploy dynamic spectrum sharing? patreon.com/posts/32418373

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga "Re-cross" of Kapoor is *still* about the Montana model of Professor Katz. Thread will continue.

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga Ok now in @Tmobile @Sprint trial, Q&A has turned to the Internet of Things, DISH, Charlie Ergen:
Q: Building a wireless network, you are not here to say it's easy, right?
A: It's hard,
Q: So does DISH have any spectrum?
A: Yes we do.

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga Q: Have you hired recently executives from other companies to join DISH to work on this wireless network?
A: We have a strong community. But we were lacking some skills, like in R&D. We've hired, for example, the CTO of Sprint

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga A: We've hired, I don't want to bore the court, a Cloud guy.
Q: And these guys are already working for Sprint today?
A: They better be.
(Some laughter).

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga Charlie Ergen: At DISH, we've been able to do that with band 29, that's the 850 megahertz

[Yes, it is: patreon.com/posts/32418373

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga Q: You've had some bumps in the road.
Ergen: Not unsurmountable. We use our skills sets to work through them. We now have a team in DISH that's had to see me every day, until late at night. Yeah we've made some mistakes, that's how you learn.

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga Q: You see this letter, Mr Ergen, that your company sent to the FCC?
A: They had questions about our IOT network. In part because no one built one before. In the summer of 2018. This was our response.

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga Q: You told the FCC and the DOJ that you didn't like this merger, right?
Ergen: Not as it was structured.
Q: So you met with the DOJ, head of antitrust division?
Ergen: Yes.
Q: You are now a divestiture buyer. Was that discussed at the first meeting?
Ergen: No.

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga Ergen: I told DOJ about other countries where they had gone from four to three. They asked me for a list. I was familiar, but I asked our Washington team to submit it.
Q: Did you have in mind then that DISH would be the divestiture buyer?
Ergen: I hoped so

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga Ergen: Other had spectrum but sold it to Verizon, sold it to Sprint.
Q: So there was a negotiation.
Ergen: That's a simplification.

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga Q: Now there's been talk here about a conflict of interest, with @Tmobile with their fancy network they're trying to sell like hotcakes, and you over here, a conflict.
Ergen: If they could get away with it they would. But it would be difficult with the monitor

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga Q: So the monitor, he's already been approved?
Ergen: Yes. Ullyot, U-L-L-Y-O-T. He's already been approved by @Tmobile and by @DISH. He was the general counsel of Facebook. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Ullyot

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Ergen: If people can port their phones, too, it helps us, we have 9M customers, we can get more.
Q: You've got that fancy T-Mobile network, and you can sell as much on it as you can in three years, is that normal?
Ergen: This agreement makes us competitive day 1

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Ergen: As hard as we pushed, we got to 12.5%. We traded some things away to get that. We knew it would limit our ability to get customers. But then DOJ got involved. And this is much better.
[Inner City Press aside: A happy customer of government]

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Q: Now you're the divestiture buyer. Did DOJ do any due diligence on DISH?
Ergen: They did. They spoke with our engineers, our marketing people. They spoke with me.
Q: Do you believe DISH can be a competitor in Year One?
Ergen: I do.

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Q: Mr. Ergen, do you have a view of Sprint as a competitor?
Ergen: Sprint has not been in a spectrum auction in ten years.
Q: How many subscribers does Sprint have?
Ergen: Adding pre- & post-paid, 40 million. They have some wholesale. Let's say just north of 50M.

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Ergen line of the day: "Sprint is a laggard."

Q: I'd like to talk about commitments DISH has made. Tell me about this letter.
Ergen: It's our commitments to the FCC in this transaction.
Q: You know what you're supposed to do.
Ergen: I definitely know.
[laughter]

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Ergen: We've been trying to get into the wireless business for the last ten years... We've never missed a final milestone commitment. Sometimes people try to keep you from entering the marketplace, they can be sneaky. They talk to a reporter, to an analyst

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Ergen: If you're a big company in this industry, last thing you want is DISH coming in. I'm sure I'll be asked about that. I'm not sure which side will ask.
Q: I certainly will.
Ergen: Mr Legere called us a hoarder. That has some bad connotation. But FCC approved

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Ergen: In this letter, they are accepting our request to waive the interim milestone and accelerate toward the final milestone. There's not any controversy about this, except from our competitors.

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Ergen: With 5G, it's like your central nervous system... Architecture today, when I first started, I had a big desk top computer. Now it's all in the cloud.
When you go home tonight, you'll see a cell tower with a shed under it. That's go away, into the cloud

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Things are getting folksier and folksier over here:
Ergen: It's like trying to change the wheels on your car as you're driving. It's very difficult.

Ergen: I've been dealing with the bankers, got some "highly confident" letters

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Ergen: That's a high confident letter for $10 billion from Stanley Morgan.

No, sorry, Morgan Stanley. At Tennessee there use to be a football player named Stanley Morgan. I'm going back to my college days

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Seems this Morgan Stanley letter was not provided in discovery. His lawyer insists he got it the first day of trial, that's why it was not provided.

Now Marrero says the states are free to cross examine about it.

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Ergen: It has to go through a credit committee. If I knew the decision on this trial, and it was a favorable decision, I'd move forward on the letter.

Ergen: We have another $10 billion highly confidential letter from Deutsche Bank. And JPMorgan.

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Ergen: Where the markets are today, if we don't have another Nine Eleven, God forbid, the banks are confident. For a good business plan, the markets are always open. We have enough money to purchase Boost and start building our network as soon as this deal closes

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Q: OK Mr. Ergen this is the first part about the business plan, the part which can be done in open court.

[!]

Q Mr. Ergen how is DISH planning to set its prices?
Ergen: We look at where the market is and come in somewhat lower.

@TMobile @sprint @MatthewLeeICP @sdnylive @Mergers @geekwire @mobileworldlive @mvnoblog @Cablefax @FierceWireless @5g_innovation @Benzinga @dish Now Judge Marrero says he will hear a "confidential" presentation tomorrow, "not in this room but in the adjourning room."

Public interest trial? Story soon patreon.com/posts/32418373