According to a ruling published on Friday, T-Mobile made false and deceptive statements in testimony to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) about its plans for Sprint’s legacy CDMA community. The firm could have the chance to elucidate why it shouldn’t face sanctions for violating the fee’s guidelines.

The choice comes after an extended back-and-forth that began with a petition from Dish Network in April asking the Commission to switch its choice on the Sprint acquisition. Dish claimed that T-Mobile made statements beneath oath that indicated the corporate would shut down Sprint’s 3G CDMA community in a three-year timeframe. When T-Mobile introduced it could decommission the community on January 1st, 2022, Dish cried foul and appealed to the fee.

It would appear that CPUC agrees with Dish. It cited testimony given by T-Mobile CTO Neville Ray, who it says uncared for to say that the PCS spectrum the CDMA community occupies could be wanted for its 5G build-out. Ray additionally said that sustaining the legacy community wouldn’t influence its plans for 5G growth.

When Dish known as out the 2022 CDMA shutdown date as untimely, T-Mobile then claimed that the brief timeframe was obligatory as a result of that PCS spectrum would be wanted to assist 5G providers in any case.

The Commission relied on the particular false statements, omissions, and/or deceptive assurances T-Mobile gave relating to its use of the PCS spectrum and its repeated references to a three-year buyer migration interval and not using a degraded expertise in framing D.20-04-008. Further, it seems that these false statements, omissions and/or deceptive assurances and the associated time references had been meant to induce the Commission to approve the merger.

As a refresher, T-Mobile agreed to promote Sprint’s pay as you go model Boost Mobile to Dish as a situation of the merger deal. The concept was to set Dish as much as fill the void within the wi-fi market that Sprint would depart because the fourth nationwide service. The newly acquired Boost buyer base — lots of who nonetheless depend on the older CDMA community — would assist Dish get a operating begin because it constructed out its personal wi-fi community.

That’s… probably not figuring out how regulators envisioned, to the shock of no person who was paying consideration on the time. But whereas a latest letter from the Department of Justice to T-Mobile and Dish acknowledged “grave concerns” relating to the CDMA shutdown, this ruling from CPUC goes a step additional to doubtlessly impose sanctions on T-Mobile. If the corporate can’t present an satisfactory purpose for violating the Commission’s guidelines, it could be ordered to pay as much as $100,000 in fines for every of its offenses.

That, sadly, doesn’t sound like an entire lot of cash, particularly contemplating what T-Mobile stands to earn from Boost prospects because it makes an attempt to transform them with waived charges and discounted plans. Regardless, T-Mobile could have the possibility to defend itself at its digital listening to scheduled for September twentieth.