Notice2019-246422019-11-13

United States et al v. Deutsche Telekom AG; T-Mobile US, Inc.; SoftBank Group Corp.; and Sprint Corp. Response to Public Comments

Justice Department, Antitrust Division

Action & Dates

Dates: An interim construction milestone and a final construction milestone. The FCC provides licensees (and in this case, DISH) with the choice of (1) satisfying both construction milestones, or (2) missing the interim milestones and agreeing to accelerate the final milestones by one year. DISH chose not to meet the interim construction milestones for its licenses, which meant that its final construction milestones were accelerated.\44\ These final milestones have not yet passed, and prior to the remedy discussions in this case, DISH had provided the FCC with a proposal on how it planned to meet them. Specifically, DISH planned to rely on the FCC's "flexible use" policy, which permits licensees to choose the technology they use to meet their construction milestones, in order to execute a two-phase network deployment plan: (1) Deploy a narrowband Internet of Things ("NB-IoT") network before the final construction milestones had passed, and (2) use this NB-IoT network as a foundation to ultimately deploy a 5G network at a later date.\45\ The United States agrees with commenters who argue that having DISH construct a 5G network immediately is preferable to this two-stage plan, but any suggestion that DISH has violated the FCC's requirements is simply incorrect.\46\

Document Excerpt

Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Justice Antitrust Division Pursuant to the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act, 15 U.S.C. 16(b)-(h) , the United States hereby publishes below the Response to Public Comments on the Proposed Final Judgment in United States et al. v. Deutsche Telekom AG; T-Mobile US, Inc.; SoftBank Group Corp.; and Sprint Corp., Civil Action No. 1:19-cv-02232-TJK, which was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on November 6, 2019, together with copies of the 32 comments received by the United States. Pursuant to the Court's November 5, 2019 order, comments were published electronically and are available to be viewed and downloaded at the Antitrust Division's website, at: https://www.justice.gov/atr/us-and-plaintiff-states-v-deutsche-telekom-ag-et-al-index-comments . A copy of the United States' response to the comments is also available at the same location. Copies of the comments and the United States' response are available for inspection at the Office of the Clerk of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Copies of these materials may also be obtained from the Antitrust Division upon request and payment of the copying fee set by Department of Justice regulations. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA RESPONSE OF PLAINTIFF UNITED STATES TO PUBLIC COMMENTS ON THE PROPOSED FINAL JUDGMENT Table of Contents I. Introduction As required by the Antitrust Procedures and Penalties Act (the &ld…

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Citation: 84 FR 61640