T-Mobile asks for a break on its previous 5G and job commitments

T-Mobile has asked the California Public Utilities Commission to suspend some of its 5G and employment terms that were imposed when the carrier’s $ 26.5 billion Sprint merger was approved. A 5G network completion date is requested two years later, from 2024 to 2026, and the need to add 1,000 new employees is eliminated.

According to T-Mobile’s filing, the date for completion of the 5G network across the state and in rural areas was “incorrectly” specified as 2024 in the decision. It should be six years after the merger is complete.

T-Mobile has partly blamed the spread of the corona virus for the changes in job creation. “The imposition of a specific hiring mandate conflicts with the regulator, which is not supported by the record, and is burdensome, particularly given the economic disruption caused by the COVID 19 crisis,” said T-Mobile in its filing.

In a statement sent by email, T-Mobile said that the overall commitment to jobs has not changed and that it remains committed to having at least the same number of employees that Sprint and T-Mobile had at the time the contract was signed had in California. Rather, it denies the CPUC’s demand for an additional 1,000 jobs. According to T-Mobile, CPUC is not authorized to request this.

Finally, T-Mobile resets the standard, which confirms that the minimum network speed is reached.

Communications Workers of America, the union representing the airline’s workers, criticized T-Mobile’s move, pointing out that T-Mobile announced last week that it would add 5,000 new jobs in retail, engineering, business next year – and create network organizations.

“Today, we see the company behind the scenes telling California regulators that it cannot meet the requirement to create 1,000 jobs in the next three years,” said Chris Shelton, CWA president.

T-Mobile started shedding jobs last week to streamline operations after the Sprint merger on April 1st.

“As part of this process, some employees who hold similar positions are asked to consider changing careers within the company,” said T-Mobile. “Others will be supported in their efforts to find a new position outside the company. We will work with and support all employees. We have no numbers to share. We are committed to completing this process by the end of June.”

T-Mobile did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.