Free Press urged AT&T/T-Mobile deal supporters in Congress to reconsider,...
Free Press urged AT&T/T-Mobile deal supporters in Congress to reconsider, given AT&T’s recent FCC filing (CD Aug 12 p1) showing the carrier could deploy in rural areas for $3.8 billion. The nonprofit on Wednesday wrote the 76 members who signed…
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a June 24 letter to the commission and Justice Department saying the deal would bring broadband to unserved rural areas (http://xrl.us/bmah8p). “Recent press reports reveal that in January AT&T decided that, rather than spend $3.8 billion to build out its network, it would spend 10 times that amount to take over T-Mobile and use the promise of rural deployment as a carrot to win approval,” Free Press political adviser Joel Kelsey said. “In AT&T’s eyes, eliminating a competitor from the market is a better business plan than investing in its network.” AT&T disagreed. “Once again, Free Press is twisting words and misrepresenting facts,” a company spokeswoman said. AT&T’s letter to the FCC “makes clear the dramatic scale of our commitment to bring 4G LTE mobile broadband to 97 [percent] of all Americans,” she said. “Simply put, AT&T would not be able to deliver 4G LTE to 55 million more Americans without this merger."