Consumer Groups Ask FCC to Reject AT&T, BellSouth Merger

CONSUMER GROUPS ASK FCC TO REJECT AT&T, BELLSOUTH MERGER
[SOURCE: Consumers Union press release]
On Monday, Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, Free Press and U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) filed their petition with the Federal Communications Commission to deny AT&T's request to transfer the licenses and authorizations held by BellSouth. "Congress and federal regulators need to look carefully at the lifeless 'competition' their flawed policies have created and reject this merger," said Gene Kimmelman, vice president for federal and international affairs for Consumers Union. "The government has been deceived before by promises that somehow more concentration would produce more choices and competition, when the result has been just the opposite. It shouldn't be fooled again." Kimmelman said that if the government refuses to stand in the way of the recreation of the old telephone monopoly, it should at least require the merging companies to sell their Cingular wireless business to create more opportunities for competition between wireless and wireline services.
http://www.consumersunion.org/pub/core_telecom_and_utilities/003516.html

* Complete filing:
http://www.hearusnow.org/other/newsroom/phoneservices/consumergroupscommentsonattbellsouthmerger/

* Center for Digital Democracy filing:
http://www.democraticmedia.org/PDFs/ATTBellSouthPetitionToDeny.pdf