T-Mobile, Sprint Prod Small Carriers to Back Merger

T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp. are urging some smaller rivals to tell federal regulators that their proposed $26.5 billion merger will be good for competition.

The two carriers have contacted some prepaid carriers to urge them to publicly back the merger, according to executives from two of the smaller companies, Republic Wireless and FreedomPop.

T-Mobile and Sprint appear to be trying to counter a main question for Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department officials reviewing the deal—its potential to hurt small carriers like Republic Wireless and FreedomPop, also known as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) because they lease major ...