When Disruption Spurs Innovation and Investment

[The AT&T/Time Warner] transaction will reshape the competitive landscape. Put simply, AT&T and Time Warner will innovate within the system, forcing other providers to compete with innovations of their own and creating demand for wireless connectivity that will give all wireless providers greater confidence to deploy 5G networks faster, deeper, and more robustly than they otherwise would. The result is a virtuous cycle of innovation and investment that expands consumer choice, incentivizes investment in the nation’s broadband infrastructure, and allows wireless companies like AT&T to bring needed competition to consumers looking for a wireless alternative to their cable broadband.

And we can accomplish all of this without harm to competition. As we begin the merger review process, we look forward to sharing these facts with our regulators. Vertical mergers like this one have long been recognized as being fundamentally pro-competitive, and for good reason. This transaction is about giving consumers more choices, not less. It is about expanding the distribution of Time Warner’s content, not restricting it. It is about stimulating the creation of more and better content, generating demand for next generation wireless services, and delivering consumers what they want. This only happens when the right combination of assets yields the right incentives to invest, innovate, and transform. The next revolution in video awaits.