FCC Requests Hearing on AT&T/T-Mobile Deal, Ma Bell Not Happy
FCC Requests Hearing on AT&T/T-Mobile Deal, Ma Bell Not Happy
Posted 11/22/2011 at 3:42pm
| by Ryan Whitwam
24
Comments
Print
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has thrown up another roadblock in the path of AT&T’s plan to get its hand on T-Mobile USA. The FCC Chair voiced concerns over the proposed merger back around the time the DOJ filed a lawsuit seeking to block the deal. Now Genachowski has requested official hearings to take place should that suit fail to stop the merger. AT&T’s legal counsel got a little snippy upon hearing the news.
“The FCC’s action today is disappointing,” AT&T’s statement began. “It is yet another example of a government agency acting to prevent billions in new investment and the creation of many thousands of new jobs at a time when the US economy desperately needs both. At this time, we are reviewing all options.” The FCC’s position is that the deal is likely to result in a reduction in competition as the top tier carrier consumes a value brand. Many other groups also contend that the deal is likely to kill jobs, not create them as AT&T eliminates redundancy.
Should the DOJ fail in its bid to stop the merger, the FCC hearing will allow both sides of the issue to be heard. But under the current FCC leadership, things are looking more and more hopeless for AT&T. Do you think the deal will go through?
More like this
24
Comments
Comments are closed on this article
mseyf
November 23, 2011 at 4:03pm
If I remember correctly, AT&T will have to pay T-Mobile mutiple billions of $ if the merger doesn't go through - then maybe Sprint will be able to merge with T-Mobile (as was the plan before AT&T came a-knocking.)
excellentjim
November 23, 2011 at 7:22am
Sometimes I really worry about the future of our nation when I read comments like these. To begin with, all the other companies have to use AT&T wire-lines, and AT&T is spending Millions every day to maintain and upgrade those lines. Second, The last two times AT&T merged with another company, they added jobs (in the US) over what the two companies already had. Third, T-Mobile has already said that if the deal does not go through it will probably shut down its US business. How many jobs do you think that will cost?
I just wish Government would get out of the way of Business and let them run their companies as needed to survive a tough economy.
Just a little point of interest to all of us "PC People"; AT&T has over 700,000 PC's just in the US. Plus more than 300,000 Servers. That's a BIG employer in anybody’s book. And, most of their call centers are here in the US. There are 5 just in my State alone, with over 2,400 local, loyal employees.
I'm happy with the service I get from AT&T and will stay with them for the foreseeable future.
hunterp
November 23, 2011 at 8:21am
I would be curious to know where these new jobs were added considering their last acquisitions were Cellular One and Centennial and shortly afterwards, AT&T announced layoffs of 12,000 people.
Eoraptor
November 23, 2011 at 1:01pm
they were added in india and thailand of course. that's creating jobs, right?
what? no, it isn't?
Sorry then, this argument fails, hunterp is correct. AT&T is not going to need any of its theoretical T-mo USA stores, nor 80% of its physical equipment, so all those sales persons, managers, and engineers are going to be on the breadline. Also, no, many Cell companies do NOT have to use wireline. Much of sprint's network, for instance, is truly cellular, with towers directly connected by micowave or fiber-op to one another (which is how we have 3g and 4g speeds). Rental copper from competitors only comes in where a customer calls a landline.
This is exactly the type of place government needs to get involved. Lack of involvement and oversight is the exact reason we are in the economic situation we are in right now. Your logic is akin to "there's a hole in my boat letting water in, I should drill another hole to let the water back out."
Holly Golightly
November 23, 2011 at 1:55am
I am confident the merger wont go. This is too big. Bigger than Sirius and XM combined! Gosh, I hope it does not. If so, the customers would lose big time as well as the economy itself. I have never seen a merger bring forth new jobs and improve quality, ever! So hell with that. I would like to see AT&T go out of business though. They have done nothing but given customers high prices with unreliable service. With AT&T, the customer always loses. I am happy that FCC is taking action for the people. My confidence is the government is being restored. I am happy. Now lets see the full rejection. "I got the popcorn ready."
livebriand
November 23, 2011 at 3:46pm
Yeah, occosionally the government works in favor of the people, but most of the time those greedy assholes let the corporations sway them with money.
Holly Golightly
November 23, 2011 at 8:25pm
Yes, it actually is sickening just how much businesses can get away with things. In New York it is even uglier. Homes and parks have been knocked down to build brand new stadiums with luxury sky boxes. I have also seen small businesses booted out to build luxury condos. I am sensing a change in our government though. We almost lost 2 amusement parks. Big businesses want to convert them into shopping malls and mixed residential housing. Thankfully, the government is restoring common sense. D*f*nding people's interests like T mobile, Coney Island, Playland and so much more... But the damage has been done. We lost soo much but lets be proud that great change is coming now.
warptek2010
November 22, 2011 at 11:39pm
I use T-Mobile and unless my bill goes up after the merger I couldn't give a crap less.
bling581
November 23, 2011 at 8:52am
I would be worried if I were you because I have AT&T and it sucks. Lucky for me my contract is up this month so I'm jumping ship.
livebriand
November 23, 2011 at 3:48pm
Sadly, the only non-assholed carrier left with decent coverage will be Sprint. Competition would really help here, as prices for cell phone plans are already high enough. In fact, because of that, I haven't gotten a smartphone and never will.
QUINTIX256
November 22, 2011 at 6:46pm
The convential wisdom surrounding this proposed merger is so ugly. They are not moving call centers from India. They are moving them and some management from Germany. The T-Mobile side will maintain quite a bit of independence last I heard.
It is as if everyone honestly believes that AT&T has spent a bare minimum maintaining and upgrading their network, and their issues have nothing to do with spectrum (Sprint-Nextel-Clearwire has more) or AT&T's overly sucessful launch of the iPhone and other pocket-computers.
big_montana
November 23, 2011 at 5:48am
They have done nothing but the absolute minimum and just recently started to invest in infrastructure upgrades. iPhone revealed to the world their how little they invested in upgrading and maintaining their network, while a company half their size (Sprint) has better bandwidth, and is able to offer unlimited plans and uncapped data, who also has a successful iPhone launch that did not impact their network at all, as Sprint has spent money to upgrade it, unlike ATT.
Eoraptor
November 23, 2011 at 1:05pm
Well, this is mostly true. Sprint is cutting off unlimited plans in the next few months. otherwise, it's corect, AT&T was caught out in June when it came out that their purported reasons for buying T-mo was 'to increase out 4g bandwidth" when in face, an in-house expansion would only have cost 6-8 billion, while the T-mo buyout is going to theoretically cost 64 billion.
big_montana
November 23, 2011 at 7:10pm
Boy, are you way off. Sprint is not eliminating unlimited data plans for phones, only for data only devices. You know aircards, tablets, but not phones.
livebriand
November 23, 2011 at 3:48pm
I doubt they'll kill it off for phones, even if they did for everything else, because that's their main advertising point.
livebriand
November 22, 2011 at 6:27pm
Man, AT&T, go worry about using that money to fix your own network before buying someone else's. We could use more competition, not less.
ghost6007
November 22, 2011 at 6:08pm
I have had t-mobile since back in its Omnipoint days due to the freedom of world travel over the GSM standard. Honestly I would hate if ATT took over, I have a iPhone/ATT from my employer and like most employees I leave my stupid iPhone locked in the desk drawer at work and use my HTC/T-Mobile combo since its much more reliable for data and voice service.
I am not looking forward to the same crappy cellular and customer service from ATT over my personal phone, F that.
Blaze589
November 22, 2011 at 5:36pm
I hope the merger fails myself. This seems like a complete fail for every T-Mobile customer once ATT gets their grubby hands on it (when they merge).
Eoraptor
November 22, 2011 at 5:00pm
of course it would create billions in new spending and all kinds of new jobs... in Indian call centers. Remember, this is the same compoany that tried to hold american jobs hostage, promising how it would "bring jobs back on shore if the merger is approved" http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/att-to-bring-5000-call-center-jobs-back-to-us-following-t-mobile-merger-closing-128723183.html So yeah, don't piss down my leg and tell me it's raining
lindethier
November 22, 2011 at 11:43pm
Indeed. AT&Ts crappy service made me look forward to ditching them and switching to Verizon.
Zoandar
November 22, 2011 at 4:12pm
I would like to hear how one company acquiring another would ever create 'more jobs'.
Captain_Steve
November 22, 2011 at 4:18pm
I was thinking that too. I've never heard the words "merger" and "round of hirings" in the same article. Now "merger" and "another round of job cuts" are constant companions.
Rooke
November 22, 2011 at 4:35pm
Agreed. Every merger I remember always resulted in at least 25% of the merged workforce being layed off.
We don't need any more large groups of people on unemployment. I hope the merger fails.
Connect with MaximumPC
Featured Content
The gang discusses the GTX 690, Trinity, Ivy Bridge, Amazon, big-box stores, MMOs,...
This month's issue
Feature
Build a PC On Any Budget
Feature
Cloud Services Showdown
How-To
Encrypt Your External Drive
Build It
Upgrade an X58 Rig
Most Commented Articles
Latest Max PC Tweets
- maximumpc: Original RickRoll Video Returns to YouTube After 24-Hour Copyright Hiatus http://t.co/MaH9Sxyy1 day 9 hours ago
- maximumpc: Corsair has decided not to go forward with its $78 million IPO, citing weak equity market conditions http://t.co/A5a4DAzj1 day 9 hours ago
- maximumpc: Want to work at Maximum PC? Our Online Managing Editor, Alex, is moving away, so we need a new one. http://t.co/9Z7JCh0E3 days 7 hours ago
