T-Mobile US is adjusting its 5G deployment plans and has informed some contractors that purchases and build outs are on hold until next year. The operator still plans to launch broad 5G coverage using its 600 MHz spectrum when devices become available later this year, and insists nationwide 5G coverage will also be accomplished in 2020. 

However, multiple unnamed contractors told WirelessEstimator.com that purchase orders for new equipment and installations are being delayed a few months and pushed to next year. All of the contractors and regional construction managers blame the delay on the unresolved lawsuit filed by attorneys general representing 15 states and Washington, D.C., aimed at blocking the operator’s proposed acquisition of Sprint.

Amid ongoing delays for the deal that was originally announced in April 2018, T-Mobile US is adjusting plans to fall in line with its network expansion goals while maintaining its financial commitments. The operator expects its 2019 fiscal cash capex guidance to land in the upper range of its previously stated guidance of between $5.8 billion to $6.1 billion.

“We are managing capital expenditures as we do every year, and we continue to invest billions to build out our network aggressively, expanding LTE coverage and performance while simultaneously laying the foundation for broad, nationwide 5G in 2020,” a T-Mobile US spokesperson wrote in an email to SDxCentral. “That hasn’t and won’t change.”

By all accounts, T-Mobile US and Sprint are discouraged that their deal to merge hasn’t been consummated yet. The nation’s third- and fourth-largest operators worked out a plan last month to extend their deadline to complete the $26.5 billion deal.

Momentum has shifted of late, but multiple factors continue to stymie their combined plans.

The Department of Justice approved the hard-fought deal after working out a complex $5 billion arrangement that calls for the divestiture of assets to Dish Network. Regulators are trying to prop up the satellite TV provider, which also holds billions of dollars in unused licensed spectrum, as a viable fourth nationwide operator of 5G services but many observers question the likelihood of that outcome.

Weeks later, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai circulated a draft order to approve the transaction, but the agency has yet to formally vote on the matter. The two Democratic commissioners on the five-member panel remain opposed to the deal. They and groups opposing the merger are calling for another round of public comment since the terms have shifted since it was originally announced 16 months ago.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit filed by attorney generals won’t be heard in court until early December.

Executives at T-Mobile US and Sprint are resolved to see things through and while both companies continue to pursue standalone goals, most notably as it relates to 5G deployments, they also talk about the perceived benefits of the merger every step of the way. 

If T-Mobile US’ 5G network is delayed it won’t have to look far for company. Sprint’s plans to bring 5G service to America’s most populated cities fell weeks behind schedule, though it just made good on its promise earlier this week with widespread 5G deployments in Los Angeles, New York City, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C.