Big Business for Big Government

The biggest threat to competition and consumers in our time is the collusion of big business and big government. As a case in point, see how AT&T is urging the Federal Communications Commission to hobble rival T-Mobile. AT&T asked the FCC to limit how much mid-band spectrum providers can acquire in future government auctions. T-Mobile acquired loads of mid-band when it purchased Sprint in 2020. The merger has accelerated 5G and pushed AT&T and Verizon to invest more in their networks; both are trying to catch up to T-Mobile by unwinding unsuccessful media acquisitions and buying more mid-band at government auctions. But now AT&T wants the FCC to hamstring T-Mobile. Its proposal would let the FCC limit how much mid-band in the range of 2.5 GHz and 6 GHz that a provider could acquire in future auctions. AT&T essentially wants the FCC to compensate for its bad business decisions, but it should be careful what it asks the government to do. Progressives say AT&T’s policy flip shows the FCC needs to regulate competition more aggressively—for instance, by forcing Internet providers to give competitors access to their networks. AT&T may encourage a new command-and-control regulatory regime that all Americans will live to regret.