Cellphone companies to merge

T-Mobile and Sprint have promised to expand 5G mobile phone coverage to rural areas in the United States once they have combined their assets. The Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday conditioned its approval of the merger on the companies fulfilling that commitment.

What’s the downside to the merger? Democratic members of the FCC complained about a loss of jobs and a decrease in the number of national cellphone providers. They say consolidation in the market hurts consumers. The Federal Trade Commission just announced that another major cellphone provider, AT&T, has to pay customers back $60 million for slowing down data speeds on supposedly unlimited high-speed plans.

Dig deeper: Read Kiley Crossland’s recent reports in Relations on the effects of unlimited technology use on children and teens.