Magic numbers: The Tipline for 29 July 2019

Antitrust enforcers are usually tight-lipped about mergers in the process of being reviewed. The head of the Department of Justice’s antitrust division, Makan Delrahim, offered few hints about the agency’s view of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger over the past year. However, he did say the DOJ had no predetermined “magic number” of national wireless carriers that were needed to keep the market competitive. On Friday, the Antitrust Division said a fourth competitor was ultimately necessary, and its settlement with the merging companies attempts to set up Dish Network as Sprint’s replacement. But not everyone is convinced that Dish will succeed.