The FCC currently has only two sitting commissioners including Chairman Brendan Carr and Anna M. Gomez. A quorum of at least three members is required before the FCC is allowed to resume normal operations. In case you’re wondering the FCC is made up of five commissioners and no more than three can come from one political party. Each commissioner is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The commissioners are appointed to serve for a five-year term.
Since no mergers or acquisitions can be approved by the FCC without a quorum, Telephone and Data Systems, the company that is selling the UScellular assets, and T-Mobile, the buyer, are both unable to complete the transaction. T-Mobile is paying $2.4 billion in cash and will take over responsibility for $2 billion in UScellular debt. The deal also gives T-Mobile 30% of UScellular’s spectrum assets including airwaves in the 600 MHz, 700 MHz A Block, PCS, AWS, 2.5 GHz, and 24 GHz (mmWave) frequencies.
Once the FCC does regain its quorum, the agency will be able to vote on whether to approve T-Mobile‘s purchase of UScellular’s assets and USM’s sale of spectrum to AT&T and Verizon. Considering that T-Mobile received FCC approval for its $26 billion acquisition of Sprint during the first Trump administration, there shouldn’t be an issue getting the UScellular transaction to close.
