Dems Seek Thorough, Expeditious AT&T-T-Mobile Review

A trio of House Democrats has asked Justice and the FCC to conduct a thorough and careful but also expeditious review of the AT&T-T-Mobile merger. While they don't explicitly recommend rejecting the merger, they make their unhappiness with the prospect clear.

"We believe that AT&T's acquisition of T-MObile would a troubling backward step in federal public policy," they say, and a "retrenchment from nearly two decades of promoting competition and open markets to acceptance of a duopoly in the wireless marketplace.

The letter came from Ed Markey (D-Mass.), former chair of the communications subcommittee; John Conyers (D-Ohio), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Communications Subcommittee. Henry Waxman (D-calif.), ranking member on the House Energy & Commerce Committee, was not a signatory to the letter.

The legislators also say they think the deal would discourage investment and restrict innovation. AT&T and T Mobile argue it will do just the opposite.

The legislators ask the FCC and Justice to review the deal both for its impact on market structure and to vet AT&T's assertions that the merger will allow it to further the Obama administration and FCC goals of deploying high-speed mobile broadband, and whether that might be achievable without the merger. 

More than 70 Democrats earlier signed on to a letter supporting the merger's proposed wireless deployment target.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.