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AT&T, T-Mobile defend merger in Senate amid antitrust concernsWASHINGTON, May 11, 2011 (The Dallas Morning News - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- AT&T Inc. told lawmakers on Wednesday that its merger with T-Mobile USA would lead to higher-speed mobile data and lower prices for consumers, as senators pressed whether the deal would move America toward a wireless market with just two national carriers. AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson was repeatedly asked how the market would remain competitive if Sprint Nextel Corp., the third-largest carrier, was acquired next. Sprint CEO Daniel Hesse told the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel that the merger "puts us in a position to be acquired." "An industry that was once a monopoly owned by AT&T in the last century is in danger of reverting to a duopoly in this new century," said Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis. Stephenson said those fears were unfounded because other, smaller carriers are growing and providing AT&T and Verizon Wireless, the largest carrier by subscribers, with new competition. AT&T also says T-Mobile has been losing customers and isn't a competitor for AT&T. "The U.S. wireless marketplace is one of the most competitive in the world, and it will remain so after this transaction," Stephenson said. The Senate hearing is likely the first of at least four congressional hearings focusing on the impacts of allowing the second- and fourth-largest U.S. wireless carriers to merge. Regulators at the Federal Communications Commission and antitrust cops at the U.S. Justice Department will decide whether to allow the deal. Democratic senators appeared to be more skeptical of that claim than Republicans. While Kohl and other Democrats asked whether AT&T is headed toward becoming "Ma Bell" again, Republicans didn't evince such fears. One consumer advocate suggested the merger would lead to less innovation, reviving an era when "brick" cellphones and unaffordable voice plans were common. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he didn't "think there is any danger of doing that." "Congress ought to be very humble about our ability to predict the sort of innovation that is going to be created, particularly in your sector of the economy," Cornyn said. "One thing that you cannot say about this industry is that it has lacked for innovation," Stephenson said. But smaller wireless carriers said the merger would make it even more difficult for them to compete. AT&T and Verizon would get exclusive handset deals and would restrict the ability of regional carriers to roam on the national networks, said Victor H. "Hu" Meena, chief executive of Cellular South Inc. "It is bad for consumers. It is bad for jobs. It is bad for competition," Meena said. "If regulators approve this acquisition, all that will remain is the endgame, where the remaining non-Bell carriers patiently wait their turn to be acquired or bled dry." ___ (c) 2011, The Dallas Morning News. Visit The Dallas Morning News on the World Wide Web at http://www.dallasnews.com/. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |