Penn Postdocs in the News: Sydney L. Forde, Ph.D., examines competition and consolidation in the U.S. wireless industry
Penn Postdoctoral Fellow Sydney L. Forde, Ph.D., publishes research on competition and consolidation in the U.S. wireless industry
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Dr. Sydney L. Forde, a postdoctoral fellow at the Media, Inequality, and Change Center at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, recently co-authored a study examining market concentration and competition in the U.S. wireless communications industry.
Dr. Forde earned her Ph.D. from the Bellisario College of Communications at The Pennsylvania State University in 2025, following a B.A. from Brock University and an M.A. from the University at Buffalo and Brock University. Her research focuses on the political economy of communications, particularly the relationship between media systems, public policy, and democratic institutions.
At Penn, Dr. Forde studies media institutions, communications policy, and digital inequality through the Media, Inequality, and Change Center. She is also a member of the U.S. research team for the Global Media & Internet Concentration Project (GMICP).
Published in the International Communication Gazette, the study examines the Federal Communications Commission’s approval of the 2020 T-Mobile/Sprint merger and its implications for competition in the wireless communications market. The researchers introduce the concept of “performative competition” to describe how regulatory and industry narratives can frame market concentration as competitive.
The study, “Performative Competition: The U.S. Wireless Communication Market and the T-Mobile/Sprint Merger,” was authored by Sydney Forde, Hendrik Theine, Pawel Popiel, and Christopher Ali.
Dr. Forde’s research reflects Penn’s continued leadership in communication policy, media studies, and critical research on digital infrastructure and market power.
We are proud to celebrate Dr. Forde’s accomplishments and her contributions to advancing interdisciplinary research on media systems and communications policy.