Today, the House Judiciary Committee held another Congressional hearing on the proposed $39 billion buyout of T-Mobile by AT&T, but it was comments yesterday that caught our attention as representatives begin to pick sides.
"The AT&T/T-Mobile deal is like a telecommunications time machine that would send consumers back to a bygone era of high prices and limited choice," said Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA). "AT&T and Verizon have divided the nation into Bell East and Bell West. Approving consolidation of the number of nationwide carriers from 4 to 3 and then inevitably to 2 would return consumers to a duopoly in the national wireless market. This would be an historic mistake."
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, wasn't quite as colorful in his language but more than made up for it by the color of his suit.
"I am concerned that this merger is bad for consumers, bad for business, and bad for innovation," he said. "Mergers always eliminate more jobs than they create. There is every likelihood that the proposed acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T could lead to both higher prices and decreased consumer choices."
Congress has no direct authority to regulate the merger, though members have begun pressuring the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission, both of which are vetting the mammoth deal.
AT&T challenged the views of Conyers and Markey today. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson's first words (PDF), after introducing himself, were, 'This transaction is all about consumers.'
As for competition concerns, "The combination of AT&T and T-Mobile could not possibly derail the powerful forces of competition in one of the nation's most competitive industries." Besides, T-Mobile still sucks and "does not exert strong competitive pressure on AT&T."
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