The California Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday to approve SoftBank’s plan to buy majorityncontrol of Sprint Nextel — the last of the state regulatory agencies that needed to clear the transaction.nSoftBank had filed with agencies in 23 states and Washington, D.C., SoftBank and Sprint said in a jointnstatement (http://bit.ly/16R7ef4). SoftBank continues to work with the FCC, Department of Justice and the Treasury Department-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) to complete those agencies’nreview of the deal, and believes it will be able to close the deal as expected on July 1, a SoftBanknspokesman said. SoftBank’s negotiations with the agencies include a plan to allow the U.S. government tonhave veto power over one of its appointees to Sprint Nextel’s board; that plan had already been publicly disclosednprior to a Wall Street Journal report, the SoftBank spokesman said. That appointee would serve asnthe “Security Director” in charge of ensuring implementation of the network security agreement SoftBank isnnegotiating with government agencies that are reviewing SoftBank’s $20.1 billion bid to buy 70 percentnownership of Sprint, according to a Sprint proxy filed with the SEC earlier this monthn(http://1.usa.gov/12qWkFv). The Wall Street Journal report also said CFIUS wants Sprint-controlled Clearwirento remove equipment manufactured by Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei from its network.nSoftBank and Sprint have previously told House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, RMich.,nthey would exclude Huawei’s equipment from the Sprint network and would work to replace Huaweinequipment on Clearwire’s network (CD April 1 p5). "Those plans confirm the serious national security risksnof SoftBank acquiring Sprint and its wireless and wireline assets of national strategic importance," said DishnNetwork General Counsel Stanton Dodge in a statement Thursday. Dish remains “concerned, however, thatnthese reported steps do not adequately protect our national security interests, especially with respect tonSprint's critical fiber backbone network and Sprint's extensive contracts to provide important telecommunicationsnservices for government, law enforcement and defense customers,” he said (http://bit.ly/1acFq1B).nDish has long opposed the deal, and has made a $25.5 billion counterbid for Sprint. Dish has recentlynramped up its criticism of the SoftBank deal on national security grounds, launching a website Monday thatnoutlined what Dish claims are problematic SoftBank ties to Huawei, UTStarcom and Chinese e-commercencompany Alibaba (CD May 21 p9). SoftBank’s bid actually “enhances U.S. national security,” the Soft-nBank spokesman said. “Only SoftBank has committed to moving the existing equipment that the governmentnhas concerns about. Dish has not made any such commitments, so their arguments about national securitynare a little hypocritical.” Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member John McCain, R-Ariz.,nurged the FCC in a letter Thursday to consider the national and economic security implications of Soft-nBank's bid. "Sprint holds strategic assets, such as its wireless spectrum and fiber network, and has extensivenand ongoing relationships throughout the whole government," the letter said. "With all other relevant factsnand circumstances surrounding Softbank's proposed acquisition of Sprint, I hope the Commission duly considersnthese facts when reviewing this matter."
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