The AT&T / T-Mobile senate hearing: deciphering the war of words

[Commentary] The idea of businesses and consumer advocacy groups speaking to Senators about corporate mergers is enough to induce sleep. But let's not underscore the importance of these types of hearings. The Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission are the two government bodies responsible for putting the stamp of approval on the merger, so the Senate Judiciary Committee isn't even directly involved; however, the hearing still provides us with a few benefits.

First, the acquisition is now in the public forum. We don't have a say in this matter, right? Wrong. Whether you agree with the merger or not, you're probably going to be affected by it in some way, and it's important to know that you have a voice -- and the FCC wants to hear it.

Second, it encourages healthy discussion between both sides of the issue, and open debate could bring several facts and stats to light that were not mentioned in the one-sided document AT&T submitted to the FCC. Don't think for a second that both decision-makers weren't watching the hearing with intense interest.

Third, the Judiciary Committee does have oversight over the DOJ and could potentially use this power to influence the department's decision if the members felt strongly enough.

Though the coverage at the hearing reached a broad range of subjects in relation to the merger, a few topics in particular were touched upon more often and were the point of focus for the Committee hearing: The spectrum crunch, effects of the merger on competition, rural coverage, LTE deployment, job creation/loss, and a possible duopoly in the US.