EXCLUSIVE: T-Mobile, Sprint refute reports are in danger, claim DOJ has not indicated the merger is threatened

Officials representing T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp say they have not received notice from the US Department of Justice that their planned $ 26 billion merger will be rejected by federal regulators without major improvements and that they continue to work With public officials getting the deal completed, FOX Business Network has learned.

Recent reports have suggested that DOJ's antitrust personnel have warned company officials that the department is likely to reject the agreement because it would eliminate competition in the wireless market by reducing the number of major operators. DOJ employees reportedly made the announcement during a private meeting earlier this month with officials representing T-Mobile and Sprint.

Regulators are expected to indicate in the coming weeks whether they will approve the merger agreement. The two sides met in early April to discuss the merger and what the government is investigating. But DOJ's employees reached no conclusion and made no recommendation to make major changes to the overall company for the transaction to continue, according to people involved in the process representing T-Mobile and Sprint.

However, Telecom managers and companies acknowledge that regulatory approval is far from a given one. As reported by FOX Business, DOJ employees are concerned about the potential for competitive behavior given the reduction in wireless operators. DOJ antitrust manager Makan Delrahim is considered a pro-advocate, but he must also carefully study the antitrust implications of the transaction.

The merger of the telecommunications giants is one of the most sought after transactions on Wall Street and in Washington DC Company officials have recently tried and failed to settle through the political regulator of the Federal Communications Commission and DOJ's antitrust division under Obama's administration.

But company officials believe they have a better chance of getting approval from the business-friendly Trump administration's DOJ and FCC. In the past year, company officials have lobbyed the government and argued that the combination of T-Mobile and Sprint would create a much stronger company to better compete with foreign outfits over the development of the super-solid 5G technology. The development of 5G is expected to add 3 million jobs and $ 500 billion to the US economy.

Officials have also argued that the reduction of a large wireless operator would not affect consumer pricing because the merging of the new company will continue to stiffen competition from Verizon and AT & T.

A T-Mobile spokeswoman refused to comment on the case, but referred FOX Business to a tweet by T-Mobile CEO John Legere who rejected a Tuesday report on the alleged Falling outlook for a deal.

"The precondition for this story … is simply untrue. Without regard to the process, we have no further comment. This continues to be our policy since we announced our merger last year," Legere said on Twitter.

A spokesman for the DOJ antitrust department refused to comment.

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A person representing T-Mobile in the legislative discussions told FOX Business that DOJ employees acknowledged that it continues to investigate the companies' arguments involving the effectiveness of the merger. These efficiencies claimed by the authorities would allow the new outfits to reduce prices and not increase antitrust problems.

"The employees never said anything about approval in one way or another," said the person.

Robert McDowell, a former FCC commissioner, now serving as the T-Mobile Supervisor, told FOX Business, "As reported two weeks ago, there is still a healthy dialogue between the government and the parties. some evidence that some final decisions have been made, this process may continue for several weeks. "