On Monday, December 19, 2011, Verizon Wireless and SpectrumCo, the consortium of cable operators, officially asked the Federal Communications Commission to transfer the cable operators' 122 wireless spectrum licenses to the wireless cellphone provider. The following statement can be attributed to Benton Foundation Chairman and CEO Charles Benton:
"The Benton Foundation urges the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission to closely review the Verizon- SpectrumCo transaction and marketing agreements with a keen eye on the implications for competition, consumer choice, wireless and pay TV prices, and innovation in both wireless and wireline services. We are concerned that Verizon Wireless’s spectrum holdings may grow so concentrated as to prevent new competitors from entering the wireless marketplace."
For more on the proposed deal see “A Reordering of the Competitive Universe as We Know It”
For more coverage of the transaction, see http://benton.org/headlines/verizon-spectrum
The Benton Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting communication in the public interest. This statement reflects the institutional view of the Foundation and, unless obvious from the text, is not intended to reflect the views of individual Foundation officers, directors, or advisors.