{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warren.senate.gov/oversight/letters/warren-casar-warn-doj-fcc-of-potential-competition-cost-issues-involving-atandt-and-spacex-deals-with-echostar", "Warren, Casar Warn DOJ, FCC of Potential Competition, Cost Issues Involving AT&T and SpaceX Deals With EchoStar", "2025-12-18", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "MA", "Elizabeth Warren", "W000817", "www.warren.senate.gov", "warren", "https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases", "scraper", "Warren, Casar Warn DOJ, FCC of Potential Competition, Cost Issues Involving AT&T and SpaceX Deals With EchoStar\n\nAT&T and SpaceX\u2019s proposed acquisitions of Echostar spectrum raise antitrust concerns, may not meet federal telecommunications law requirements\n\nDeal threatens to raise cell phone costs and worsen service for consumers by further consolidating cellular market\n\nText of Letter (PDF)\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) wrote to Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division head Abigail Slater and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr, raising concerns about AT&T\u2019s and SpaceX\u2019s plans to acquire wireless spectrum licenses from telecommunications company EchoStar. The lawmakers urged the respective agencies to closely scrutinize the proposed deals and block them if they violate antitrust laws or do not serve \u201cthe public interest, convenience, and necessity,\u201d as required by federal telecommunications law.\n\n\u201cThe AT&T deal \u2013 worth $23 billion \u2013 will effectively strengthen the market power of the three major wireless carriers in the U.S., and \u2018close the books\u2019 on the possibility of the emergence of an additional major competitor,\u201d wrote the lawmakers. \u201cThe SpaceX deal \u2013 worth $17 billion \u2013 would help Musk expand SpaceX\u2019s Starlink capacity and provide an opportunity for the company to gain \u2018firepower\u2019 in the satellite communications industry that competitors will struggle to compete with.\u201d\n\nIn August, AT&T announced a multi-billion-dollar deal to acquire certain wireless spectrum licenses from EchoStar and provide wireless service for EchoStar\u2019s Boost Mobile. The deal threatens to slash competition in the network carriers\u2019 market by reducing the number of major network carriers in the U.S., entrenching the dominance of the big three carriers. In addition to raising prices, further concentration will likely worsen services: consumers pay on average two to three times more for their monthly phone bills in markets with only three network operators compared to markets with four network operators, and download speeds are half as fast in markets with three network operators compared to four.\n\n\u201cAT&T\u2019s acquisition of EchoStar\u2019s spectrum will entrench the three main network providers\u2019 dominance and limit choices for almost every home in the U.S., harming both consumers and competition within the wireless industry,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\nJust weeks after the AT&T-EchoStar deal was announced, EchoStar announced an additional sale of spectrum to Elon Musk\u2019s SpaceX. SpaceX\u2019s potential acquisition of these spectrum licenses raises fresh competition concerns within the satellite industry, as it could enable SpaceX to embed itself in the mobile carrier market while not directly challenging the dominant mobile carriers.\n\nThe SpaceX-EchoStar deal also raises significant potential corruption concerns related to the influence of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in the Trump administration. In addition to his massive donations to the Trump campaign and his previous role as senior adviser and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the Trump administration, Elon Musk also reportedly \u201cbuilt a public alliance\u201d around his company\u2019s policy goals with Chairman Carr in the year leading up to the 2024 presidential election.\n\n\u201cThe circumstances around the FCC investigation of EchoStar and the close relationship of Mr. Musk to the Trump Administration and to key Trump Administration officials make it particularly important that the FCC and DOJ engage in a robust, independent, and impartial review prior to approving any sale of EchoStar spectrum to SpaceX in order to avoid the appearance of favoritism or impropriety,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\nThe possible anticompetitive effects of these proposed deals and the resulting consumer harms merit close scrutiny by the regulators. The DOJ has a responsibility to enforce federal antitrust laws and should challenge the deals if it finds they could substantially lessen competition in violation of the law. The FCC is required to review telecommunications transactions and approve only transactions that serve \u201cthe public interest, convenience, and necessity\u201d \u2014 a standard these deals may not meet. The lawmakers encouraged the FCC to reject the proposed deals if AT&T and SpaceX are unable to prove that their respective deals would affirmatively benefit the public.\n\nSenator Warren raised similar concerns about a related telecommunications deal in the first Trump Administration. In 2020, T-Mobile merged with Sprint, decreasing the number of major cell carriers in the U.S. and greatly reducing competition. The merger, which needed the first Trump administration\u2019s approval, also raised ethics concerns as T-Mobile executives aggressively courted President Trump. Senator Warren published an investigation revealing that T-Mobile spent nearly $200,000 at the President\u2019s business prior to the approval of the merger, and Senator Warren opposed the merger over competition concerns.\n\nThe Trump administration ultimately approved the deal, and consumers have paid the price: cell phone costs have increased since the merger, and the industry has consolidated even further. T-Mobile\u2019s 2025 acquisition of UScellular prompted DOJ to warn that \u201cwe stand at a pivotal moment for the wireless industry\u201d after \u201ca decades-long trend toward consolidation-by-acquisition\u201d with the industry dominated by an \u201coligopoly.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warren.senate.gov/oversight/letters/warren-casar-warn-doj-fcc-of-potential-competition-cost-issues-involving-atandt-and-spacex-deals-with-echostar"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.1958029828965664, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}