Major Telecoms Stay Quiet On Trump's Travel Ban

Executives from nearly every single industry, from tech, coffee companies to auto, are speaking out against President Trump's executive order which places a temporary travel ban on individuals from mostly Muslim countries.

As noted by Recode, one particular industry is sitting on the sideline: telecom companies.

According to Recode, there hasn't been so much as a peep from top executives at AT&T Inc. T, Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, Sprint Corp S and T-Mobile US Inc TMUS. The reason? They all have something or will need something really big from the president's administration and taking a stance against Trump's policy isn't the right move.

Sprint and T-Mobile will likely need the administration's blessing for some sort of merger in the near-term, while Verizon's name has been floating around as a possible buyer of a cable company. Meanwhile, AT&T CEO Randal Stephensen met with Trump with the hopes of convincing the president and his administration to favorably view its proposed acquisition of Time Warner Inc TWX.

The telecommunications companies have for the most part praised Trump's choice to lead the Federal Communications Commission Ajit Pai even though his controversial views on net neutrality has some consumer advocate groups concerned.

Bottom line, perhaps telecom executives are looking to stay in the president's good books and the best way to do so is remain silent.