Jul 21 2011
AT&T – T-Mobile Merger Gets Public Hearing in California
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is holding a hearing today on the proposed merger of AT&T and T-mobile. If the deal goes through, 80% of the U.S. telecommunications market would be controlled by just two companies (AT&T and Verizon). AT&T has lined up support from community organizations through their charitable contributions and the promise of jobs. However, media reform activist Art Brodsky, and others, point to the history of how “[t]he workforce of these telecommunications giants has been decimated by corporate downsizing.” Verizon and AT&T had asked for the employment data to be confidential, but the PUC (Public Utilities Commission) turned down the request. Opposition at the CPUC hearing will be spearheaded by The Greenlining Institute, The Utility Reform Network (TURN), and Free Press. These organizations plan to highlight concerns about the merger’s impact on customers, including reduced consumer choice and loss of low-cost wireless service. A letter co-signed by California Congresswoman Anna Eshoo states that AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile “would be a troubling backward step in federal public policy – a retrenchment from nearly two decades of promoting competition and open markets to acceptance of a duopoly in the wireless marketplace.” The San Jose Mercury News recently published an Op-ed in support of the merger, pointing to an FCC report that claims it will be good for California’s economy. California is one of several states holding hearings on the proposed merger. Arizona’s Corporation Commission recently approved the deal, albeit without a public hearing.
GUEST: Amallia Deloney, Grassroots Policy Director at the Center for Media Justice
Today’s Public Participation Hearing is at 4 p.m. at the Four Points by Sheraton Culver City – Marina B, 5990 Green Valley Cir., Culver City.
For more information visit the Media Action Grassroots Network and the Center for Media Justice
2 Responses to “AT&T – T-Mobile Merger Gets Public Hearing in California”
I went to this….corruption at its finest. ATT paid about 30 minority leaders to come in with talking points, most of which were false. It was gross.
I got there early to observe, and the guy who was the head of the panel(Michael Peevey http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/aboutus/Commissioners/01Peevey/index.htm )…the guy who is supposed to be unbiased and listening to the public’s concern, was already friends and buddy buddy with all the minority community leaders that had been paid off by att.
The fact that the FCC hasn’t shut this transaction down already is crazy, last time I checked it is their job to step in when a monopoly is about to be formed….its really sad that our government doesn’t stand up to these types of corporations and instead just get paid off. I saw it first hand here…its sick.
There is no competition at stake here. T-Mobile will be bought by either AT&T or Sprint, and the battle is between those two. And AT&T is far better than Sprint, especially as an employer. You should care about the workers as much as you care about the features on your phone.