T-Mobile’s Acquisition Of Mint Mobile Gains FCC Approval, Deal Closing May 1

The FCC stated on 4/25/24 that it approved T-Mobile's acquisition of the Ka'ena Corporation and its subsidiaries, including Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile. The approval came just two days after T-Mobile notified the FCC that it would implement a new 60-day unlocking policy for Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile if its acquisition of the brands was allowed to move forward.

It was also two days after it was revealed that Lycamobile filed a lawsuit against T-Mobile alleging the carrier blocked it from having basic cellular functions among other issues. Lycamobile asked regulators to block T-Mobile's acquisition of the Ka'ena Corporation. However, the opposition came after the FCC had already closed off the period when opposition complaints were allowed to be filed. 

The FCC cited T-Mobile's proposed unlock policy, highlighted below, in announcing the acquisition approval.

1. Automatically unlock existing Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile devices that are capable
   of automatic unlocking if they have been activated on the T-Mobile network for at
   least 60 days and are not currently on a device financing plan
2. Automatically unlock new and existing Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile devices that
   are capable of automatic unlocking and that are not currently on a device financing
   plan 60 days after they have been activated on the T-Mobile network;
3. Provide Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile customers with a manual means for unlocking
   existing devices that are not capable of automatic unlocking and are not currently on a
   device financing plan if they have been activated on the T-Mobile network for 60
   days;
4. Provide Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile customers with a manual means for unlocking
   new and existing devices that are not currently on a device financing plan and are not
   capable of automatic unlocking 60 days after they have been activated on the TMobile network;
5. At the time a Mint Mobile or Ultra Mobile device that is not capable of automatic
   unlocking is eligible for unlocking, provide customers with clear instructions as to
   how the device may be manually unlocked;
6. No later than 24 months after the closing of the transaction, ensure that all new Mint
   Mobile and Ultra Mobile devices the company offers are capable of automatic
   unlocking;
7. Within 60 days after closing the transaction, provide notice of the above unlocking
   policy to existing Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile customers via text message at no
   cost to the customer (in particular, such notification will identify relevant website
   resources regarding unlocking);
8. Beginning 60 days after closing, notify new Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile customers
   of the applicable unlocking policies upon activation of their new device via text
   message at no cost to the customer (in particular, such notification will identify
   relevant website resources regarding unlocking); and
9. Report to WTB and OEA the total number of locked Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile
   devices activated on the T-Mobile network, and of that the total number of locked
   devices that are capable of automatic unlocking, within 60 days of closing the
   transaction and again on the first and second anniversary of the transaction’s closing,
   after which time all new devices offered to Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile customers
   must be capable of automatic unlocking

An additional note in the filing states: "Note, however, that T-Mobile will not unlock devices that it determines within 60 days of activation as likely purchased through fraudulent means (until standard fraud investigation practices have determined there is no likely fraud), or as otherwise required by law."

This additional note, unfortunately, does leave the definition of "fraudulent means" in the hands of T-Mobile. It may allow the carrier to take some liberties to the detriment of some legitimate consumers, in deciding if their devices can be unlocked or not.

The 60-day unlock policy matches what Verizon Wireless offers with all its brands including Verizon Value Brands (formerly called Tracfone brands) which Verizon acquired from América Móvil in November 2021. Verizon had generally sold its devices unlocked as a result of the FCC allowing it to buy 700 MHz spectrum back in 2008. However, in 2019, Verizon gained approval from FCC to allow them to lock their devices for 60 days to "help prevent fraudulent activity."

Interestingly, the approval came just after T-Mobile had its 1Q24 earnings release. Industry analyst Bill Ho noted that T-Mobile reported its first quarterly loss in prepaid subscribers in 4 years although the losses are largely due to customers moving to T-Mobile Postpaid. Peter Adderton, Boost Mobile's founder and owner/founder of MobileX, took the migration of customers to postpaid as an opportunity to blast carriers claiming they've lost focus on prepaid ever since T-Mobile was allowed to acquire Sprint.

Prepaid has ceased to be a main focus for MNOs since @TMobile took out Sprint @MetroByTMobile and @boostmobile drove the industry and were both very aggressive since merger this has evaporated. https://t.co/JJ8fMyNalt

— Peter Adderton (@peter_adderton) April 25, 2024

However, T-Mobile's purchase of Mint Mobile may in some way already be starting to drive an increase in competition between carrier prepaid brands. Visible by Verizon recently launched new annual plans, seemingly to take on the market that Mint Mobile thrives on. The new annual plan options lower Visible's flagship unlimited plan cost by $13/month to an average cost of $32.95/month while the base plan is only lowered by $2/month to an average cost of $22.92/month. Of course, annual plans are a double-edged sword, while offering customers additional savings they are in fact prepaid contracts. Michael Timmermann, of Michaelsaves.com and YouTube recently outlined several additional issues associated with prepaid annual plans which you can watch below.

Will Mint Mobile & Ultra Mobile Survive As Brands Post Acquisition?

There was an interesting additional note in T-Mobile's letter to the fcc talking about the possibility of the two brands being sold off or merged into another existing T-Mobile brand. The only existing T-Mobile brands they could be folded into are Metro by T-Mobile and T-Mobile Prepaid. The note says:

"the above unlocking policies will continue to apply to the Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile brands if sold or rebranded. In addition, if the Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile brands are subsumed into another T-Mobile brand, these unlocking policies will continue to apply to existing Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile customers as of the time the affected brand is subsumed."

T-Mobile's long-term plans for each brand are clearly unknown. But in the short term, actor Ryan Reynolds will continue to be involved with Mint Mobile in advertising and marketing. Reynolds has starred in many wireless TV ads pitching Mint Mobile to consumers.

T-Mobile's acquisition approval comes a little over a year after T-Mobile made an offer to buy Mint Mobile, as reported by BestMVNO in March 2023.