76 House Dems Praise AT&T-T Mobile 4G Pledge

Seventy six House Democrats have written Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and Attorney General Eric Holder to urge them to consider the benefits of an AT&T-T Mobile acquisition of T-Mobile in their respective agencies' reviews of the proposed $39 billion deal. While the letter does not explicitly endorse the merger, it does celebrate AT&T's pledge that the deal will allow the combined companies to deliver next-generation wireless broadband to over 97% of the country. Led by Reps. G.K Butterfield of North Carolina and Gene Green of Texas, the Dems extolled the potential benefits of that rollout. Those include driving investment and innovation, creating jobs, and reaching the rural constituents that the FCC has just said need more help getting broadband. They make it clear that the FCC review should include "all relevant issues," including price and competition. But they also point out, as has AT&T at every opportunity, that President Barack Obama has made ubiquitous wireless broadband a national priority.

Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn said, "We wish the members of Congress had studied AT&T’s proposal, backed by the Communications Workers of America, more closely. Had they done so, they would have found that AT&T’s deployment plan is only marginally better than what they have proposed before and that under this merger, jobs will be lost, not gained. Had they done so, they might have asked AT&T and the CWA why the company was spending $39 billion to buy T-Mobile instead of expanding their coverage, as they could have done at any time rather than use the buyout as a threat or, as former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt characterized it, a ‘state-authorized bribe.’ It is unfortunate that proponents of the merger have been able to mislead so many Members of Congress."

"Members of Congress should be more careful about signing any letter that AT&T puts in front of them. This letter is riddled with misleading and factually inaccurate statements that contradict what the company is telling investors and regulators. It is simply wrong on the facts," said Derek Turner of Free Press.