Sen. Lee defends Verizon, cable providers’ proposed spectrum deal

Sen Mike Lee (R-Utah), ranking member on the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, defended the proposed deal to allow Verizon to purchase spectrum from a consortium of cable companies.

“I do not believe the spectrum purchase or commercial agreements will restrict competition or otherwise harm consumers," Sen Lee writes in a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and Attorney General Eric Holder, in response to calls from antitrust subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI) for regulators to closely scrutinize the deal. “The evidence suggests that these agreements are primarily pro competitive and will benefit consumers by putting previously fallow spectrum to efficient use, expanding consumer choice through the introduction of a new bundled offering and spurring innovation in the development of new technologies and products," said Sen Lee, who is in favor of the deal. He said regulators must analyze the spectrum deal "in light of the increasingly severe spectrum crunch facing the wireless industry and consumers of wireless services."