T-Mobile US pays a fine of 200 million US dollars as part of a settlement, just under 170 Million euros to an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) into inconsistencies in the use of government subsidies for the telecommunications company acquired in April 2020 Avoid sprint. According to the FCC, Sprint is to receive government subsidies under the Lifeline program for around 900. 000 Customers who did not use the services at all.

Already at the beginning 2019 the FCC had started the investigation against Sprint. The telecommunications authority accused the company of having applied for government subsidies, which should be used to 885. 000 Provide cheaper telecommunications services to people on low incomes who then did not use them. According to the FCC, the subsidy payments were made monthly and usually amounted to 9 25 dollars per customer. The telecommunications companies pass this amount on to the users, so that the services are often free of charge. The lifeline program is usually advertised quite aggressively by the providers, so that contracts are concluded, but the customers then do not use the services at all. If that is the case, the telecommunications providers are not allowed to take advantage of the subsidies, according to the FCC statement on the case. Sprint had violated this non-use rule.

Software error Sprint had spoken of a software error in a voluntary disclosure, which is said to have prevented the discovery that over one million of the then approximately 3 million Sprint customers did not use the Lifeline service at all. Sprint stated that, due to its own internal guidelines, it would otherwise not have applied for the subsidies.

T-Mobile US was pleased that the problem inherited with the Sprint merger had been eliminated with the settlement that has now been concluded to have. In addition to the payments, the Sprint division of T-Mobile undertakes to create a compliance plan that is intended to guarantee that the FCC rules regarding the Lifeline program will be adhered to in future.

(olb)