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Sprint chairman, CEO will reportedly meet with FCC

Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son and CEO Dan Hesse will likely continue their attempts to sell regulators on a deal with T-Mobile.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
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Roger Cheng

Masayoshi Son, SoftBank's CEO.
Masayoshi Son, SoftBank's CEO and Sprint's chairman. Stephen Shankland/CNET

Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son, who is also the CEO of Softbank, will meet with the head of the Federal Communications Commission on Monday as he continues his push to convince regulators on a merits of a deal with T-Mobile, according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

Son and Sprint CEO Dan Hesse are scheduled to meet and chat about a variety of subjects, and not specifically about deals, according to the report. But consolidation will likely be a prominent theme in the talks.

Sprint has been looking to talk up the need for further consolidation in the wireless industry, and it has argued that a merger between Sprint and T-Mobile would make for a stronger competitor against the big two players in the industry, AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

The Justice Department, however, has already signaled that it would heavily scrutinize any deal.

The Journal also reported that Hesse was scheduled to attend an event with President Barack Obama to discuss Sprint's work in an initiative to provide wireless service to thousands of schools, a point highlighted in the president's recent State of the Union address.

While T-Mobile executives have also signaled a willingness to consolidate, its recent success has made it difficult for Sprint and T-Mobile to justify the need for a merger. T-Mobile's aggressive pricing moves and loud campaign has given the smallest national carrier an injection of energy and customer growth.

A Sprint representative declined to comment on Son and Hesse's schedule.