Verizon’s decision to discontinue standalone DSL continues a pattern of...
Verizon’s decision to discontinue standalone DSL continues a pattern of “abandoning initiatives that would compete with cable” and can only be explained in the context of Verizon Wireless’s proposed acquisition of spectrum from the nation’s largest cable operators, DirecTV told…
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the FCC Wednesday (http://xrl.us/bm8au7). “If the Commission knew nothing else” about the cable spectrum deals, “this evidence alone would be sufficient to raise concerns that they will lead to a diminution in competition by creating incentives for the signatories not to compete with each other,” DirecTV said. DirecTV has long opposed Verizon Wireless’s cable spectrum transactions, mainly concerned with the potential future arrangements they may make possible. In its letter, the company referred to a former joint project in which Verizon Wireless had been working with DirecTV to develop a next-generation fixed wireless broadband project to be marketed jointly with DirecTV’s video service in a bundle that would compete directly with cable operators. Verizon Wireless abandoned those efforts “almost immediately” upon the cable spectrum deals, “in favor of working with its new cable partners,” DirecTV said. “Verizon’s behavior offers direct evidence of ways in which the proposed transaction will alter the market to the detriment of competition and consumers."