Stopping AT&T's business appetite
March 22, 2011
AT&T, the nation's second-largest mobile phone company, is pushing forward its plan to take over T-Mobile, the fourth-largest carrier.

This deal would form a communications colossus not seen since the monopoly days of Ma Bell. Two companies, AT&T and Verizon, would control close to 80 percent of the mobile market in America.

For the hundreds of millions of people who rely on handheld phones every day, that equation spells disaster:

Now, AT&T's PR machine is spinning like crazy to convince you that they've got your best interests at heart ... and that the Washington bureaucrats at the Department of Justice and FCC should rubber-stamp this merger.

Their spin doctors say that the "synergies" of the deal will lower prices, improve quality of service, and "expand America's workforce," providing thousands of new jobs.

This is bunk.

Name one merger in history that has resulted in more choices and lower prices for consumers. Name one merger that has actually created jobs for Americans and not resulted in more pink slips.

AT&T's takeover of T-Mobile would take away choice at a time when demand for mobile access is growing. And a lack of choice means higher prices for everyone. Free Press and our allies are determined to protect the public from this train wreck of a deal. Thousands of people need to act before Washington can cave in once again to industry.

Commentary by Timothy Karr, campaign director, Free Press

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