As if there were any doubt about Sprint’s feelings on the subject, Sprint has formally announced its opposition to the purchase:
AT&T and Verizon are already by far the largest wireless providers. If approved, the proposed acquisition would create a combined company that would be almost three times the size of Sprint in terms of wireless revenue and would entrench AT&T’s and Verizon’s duopoly control over the wireless market. The wireless industry moving forward would be dominated overwhelmingly by two vertically integrated companies with unprecedented control over the U.S. wireless post-paid market, as well as the availability and price of key inputs, such as backhaul and access needed by other wireless companies to compete.
and:
“Sprint urges the United States government to block this anti-competitive acquisition,” said Vonya McCann, senior vice president, Government Affairs. “This transaction will harm consumers and harm competition at a time when this country can least afford it. As the first national carrier to roll out 4G services and handsets and the carrier that brought simple unlimited pricing to the marketplace, Sprint stands ready to compete in a truly dynamic marketplace. So on behalf of our customers, our industry and our country, Sprint will fight this attempt by AT&T to undo the progress of the past 25 years and create a new Ma Bell duopoly.”
Yep, I think they’re somewhat displeased.
And also in the not-so-surprising comments, an unnamed FCC representative is said to have promised no rubber stamp for the deal. What else was he going to say, that they don’t think it’s worth bothering looking into?
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Categories: Mergers and Acquisitions · Wireless
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Yeah my mom is also really opposed. A 60 year old non-business oriented far removed from telecom near retiree says “This is going to ruin my plan with TMobile. There won’t be any competition left to force aggressive rate plans. This is not a good thing. Someone needs to stop this.”
My guess is she’s not the only one who realizes what this could do to consumers. My guess is that her one small voice can’t be heard.
One of the problems in wireless is that consumers want everything there is to offer but they don’t want to pay for it. We are underwhelmed by what is available to us now that is NOT in the form of a bag phone. We aren’t Europe. We have a massive country to cover. So there is a part of me that understands some of the consolidation.
I just think we were one short of that line–and this one drags a mammoth into the pile. ALLTEL wireless introduced those family plans and TMobile the fave five. All were competitive drivers that changed my bill drastically–one was already swallowed by a whale.