T-Mobile and Sprint have cleared a hurdle on their path to merger completion.
T-Mobile has announced that its merger with Sprint has been approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and Team Telecom, which includes the U.S. Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Defense. Team Telecom has filed with the FCC to say that it has reviewed the T-Mobile-Sprint merger for any potential national security, law enforcement and public safety issues, and it has no objections.
"These approvals assure the strong partnership both companies have with the U.S. government will continue with the New T-Mobile," T-Mobile CEO John Legere said of this news. "We look forward to continuing our discussions with the remaining regulatory agencies reviewing our transaction to share our story and subsequently achieve similar positive results."
Last week, we heard rumors say that U.S. national security officials were pressuring T-Mobile and Sprint's parent companies to rid themselves of Huawei networking equipment. Some in the U.S. government have concerns about Huawei's ties to the Chinese goverment and the possibility that the company's equipment could be used as a back door for spying. Neither Deutsche Telecom nor SoftBank, T-Mo and Sprint's respective parent companies, have confirmed that they are ditching Huawei network equipment, but reports suggest that they are considering it.
It's worth noting that the T-Mobile-Sprint merger still has some roadblocks to clear before it's complete. It must still be approved by the FCC and it must earn antitrust approval from the U.S. Department of Justice. T-Mo and Sprint have said that they expect the merger to close in the first half of 2019.