AT&T Merger Plan Dropped - Florida Consumers Win?
(Posted December 22, 2011 07:55 am)
By Les Coleman
TALLAHASSEE, FL - First, the Justice Department filed suit to stop it. Then, the Federal Communications Commission moved to block it. In the end, AT&T this week officially dropped its $39 billion effort to take over T-Mobile, signaling a stronger stand on antitrust oversight by the Obama administration than its predecessor.
Amalia Deloney, grassroots policy director for the Center for Media Justice, says there's more to the story.
AT&T wanted T-Mobile's cellular airways, called
spectrum. In its statement, AT&T said the acquisition
would have "offered an interim solution to...spectrum
shortage." T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom,
walks away with a $4 billion consolation prize, a
"break-up fee" that was inserted in the original deal.
Parul Desai, speaking for the Consumers Union, says the
Washington, D.C.-based lobbying against the deal was
aided by a groundswell of public opinion.
"The opposition was significant, in that it pointed out
that the facts really were against the merger, and it
was easy to point that out."
Deloney says as she and representatives of other
community and consumer groups talked with people about
the movement to stop the merger, they heard three things
repeatedly.
"They knew of absolutely no merger in their lifetime
that had led to the creation of jobs; they understood
very clearly that there was nothing good about a
monopoly; and they know that AT&T has no decent track
record working with communities."
In a statement, a Justice Department official said, "Had
AT&T acquired T-Mobile, consumers in the wireless
marketplace would have faced higher prices and reduced
innovation."
