FCC's Clyburn to focus on consumers in AT&T merger review

Federal Communications Commissioner (FCC) Mignon Clyburn says consumers are the key consideration in AT&T's merger with T-Mobile.

She's concerned about industry consolidation because it can mean higher prices, but that smaller companies can be at a disadvantage when it comes to the high costs of service such as erecting cell phone towers. She said she tends to look at alternatives, consumer interests and how users interact with a company. She said she’s looking at market concentration, but she also pointed to the utility industry as an example of why it sometimes makes sense to have fewer players in the market. “Competition is good,” she said. “But you also have to look at it industry by industry, transaction by transaction, to see if the consumer benefit outweighs any potential concern.”