Senator Seeks to Stop AT&T, T-Mobile Merger
2011-07-21 07:53 by Daniela
Tags: AT&T, T-Mobile
Sen. Herb Kohl (D., Wis.), chairman of a Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, formally objected to the controversial AT&T/T-Mobile merger in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. He said the merger is "highly dangerous to competition and consumers": "No other cellphone companies beyond the four national carriers have their own national networks on which to provide nationwide coverage," Kohl wrote in a 7-page letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "In addition, the local and regional cellphone companies have stated that they often have difficulties in gaining roaming agreements with the national carriers, despite these carriers' legal obligation to do so. Placing such a key input in the hands of their national competitors unquestionably will hamstring these smaller carriers in their efforts to compete with the national cellphone companies." Unsurprisingly, AT&T rejected Kohl's criticism of the merger: "We respect Sen. Kohl. However, we feel his view is inconsistent with antitrust law, is shared by few others and ignores the many positive benefits and numerous supporters of the transaction". Read more -here-
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