Critics Slam SpectrumCo Approval

While the cable industry was patting itself on the back after receiving federal antitrust approval of its $3.9 billion wireless spectrum sale to Verizon Wireless, some public policy groups criticized the deal -- and the conditions agreed to by both parties -- as not serving consumer interests.

In a statement, Public Knowledge president and CEO Gigi Sohn said the agreement conceded that U.S. broadband competition policy has failed. At Free Press, Policy Adviser Joel Kelsey was most concerned that the deal did little to temper an emerging monopoly environment for broadband service. The Consumer Federation of America took a similar tack, with Director of Research Mark Cooper calling the approval a sign that the "the primary pillar on which the Telecommunications Act of 1996 stood -- intramodal and intermodal competition between broadband platforms -- has collapsed in a short 16 years. And for the Communications Workers of America, the union that is currently in a labor dispute with Verizon Wireless, the objection centered around jobs.