Overview

• The FCC has cleared T-Mobile’s $4.4 billion purchase of UScellular’s mobile business and its acquisition of internet provider Metronet.
• T-Mobile formally ended all diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in a letter to the FCC, removing dedicated DEI roles and references from its materials.
• This decision continues a trend in which Verizon and other firms secured merger approvals only after dismantling their corporate diversity programs.
• FCC Chair Brendan Carr has tied regulatory sign-off for high-profile telecom deals to the rollback of DEI efforts under pressure from the White House.
• Analysts say the pattern accelerates industry consolidation and signals that federal regulators now leverage diversity policy changes in merger reviews.