Reps Markey, Conyers Oppose AT&T-T-Mobile Merger

Two senior members of Congress announced their opposition to AT&T’s proposed acquisition of rival T-Mobile USA, saying it would be a “historic mistake.” Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Commerce Committee, and House Judiciary ranking member John Conyers (D-MI) both called on regulators to block the proposed $39 billion merger.

Rep Markey wrote legislation in 1993 requiring the release of 200 megahertz of spectrum for private-sector uses such as mobile phones. He said if the AT&T/T-Mobile merger is approved, it will return the country to a time when the nation’s wireless market was dominated by two players who had little incentive to innovate or lower prices. AT&T and Verizon are aiming to “divide the country up into Bell East and Bell West,” Markey said. “That’s the inevitable result that will occur if agreement is given to this proposed merger.”

Rep Conyers called for more hearings on the merger than just the one currently scheduled by Judiciary. He said he would like to hear from Sprint, which opposes the merger, and the Communications Workers of America, which has more than 40,000 AT&T wireless union members and is backing the merger.

Some consumer and public-interest groups joined the lawmakers in their concern that the merger will lead to higher prices for consumers and stifle innovation in the wireless space. Andrew Jay Schwartzman with the Media Access Project said T-Mobile has been innovative by being the first to offer new products such as Google’s Android smartphone and offering lower-priced plans than the three other major carriers. He noted that mergers involving a “maverick” carrier like T-Mobile require extra antitrust scrutiny by the Justice Department. Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn criticized AT&T’s takeover of T-Mobile, saying, “It would be hard to imagine a takeover that could do more harm to consumers.”