Rep Inslee worried AT&T deal could cost jobs

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) sent a letter to AT&T and T-Mobile on Thursday expressing his concern that their proposed merger could destroy jobs, especially in his Washington district.

The headquarters of T-Mobile is just outside of Inslee’s district. Rep Inslee, who is running for governor, wrote that the Puget Sound region has already suffered from waves of job cuts as a result of telecommunication mergers. In 2004, Cingular's acquisition of AT&T Wireless led to the closure of the AT&T Wireless headquarters in Redmond, Wash. In 2005, Alltel (now Verizon Wireless) acquired Western Wireless, based in Bellevue, Washington.