PhilHumm
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The AT&T / T-Mobile senate hearing: deciphering the war of words
Over the course of the next year, AT&T and its opponents will be in the ring, duking it out in a war of words in attempt to convince the government that a $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile by AT&T should or should not take place. Consumers have the most to win or lose here, yet we are resigned to watching from the sidelines as both sides lob countless facts and stats at each other like volleys in a tennis match. If you look at the merger process as a stairway to climb up, AT&T is still near the very bottom. Every rung will be full of intense scrutiny as it is: if the two companies are allowed to merge, the national GSM market becomes a monopoly, and the wireless industry as a whole would shift to only three national players plus a handful of less-influential regional carriers. The carrier's going to blow as much as $6 billion if the merger is not approved -- almost enough to buy Skype -- it can't just expect to put up some feel-good facts and stats to win the hearts of the decision-makers. AT&T has to be absolutely sure it'll come out victorious in the war, else it risks losing the trust (and money) of its shareholders. But to accomplish such a feat, it has to be on top of its game. There was no better time to show off what it's made of than last week's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing conducted by the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. When the Committee entitles a hearing "Is Humpty Dumpty Being Put Back Together Again?," it's either exercising a sense of humor or a preconceived notion of the merger due to the implication that Ma Bell is simply reforming. CEO Randall Stephenson appeared as a sacrificial lamb, going before Congress and his opponents to explain his side of the story, answer hardball questions, and endure a hard-hitting round of criticism. Continue reading as we take you topic by topic and examine what he -- and his opponents -- had to say about the merger.
