Sen. Blumenthal troubled by proposed Sprint-T-Mobile merger

Connecticut U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is concerned about the proposed merger between phone companies Sprint and T-Mobile.

The companies on Sunday reached a $26.5 billion merger agreement that would reduce the U.S. wireless industry to three major players if President Donald Trump's antitrust regulators allow it.

Blumenthal says shrinking the number of major carriers from four to three "rings alarm bells."

The Democrat says wireless consumers have benefited greatly from fierce competition. He says variety in the wireless market has forced carriers to offer better prices and services.

Blumenthal says he'll scrutinize the proposed merger to ensure it would be beneficial to consumers and workers, not just shareholders.

Sprint and T-Mobile have long been considering a combination that would bulk them up to a similar size as Verizon and AT&T.