AT&T Defends Buy of Low-Band Licenses in California From Club 42
AT&T defended its proposed buy of lower 700 MHz band licenses in California from Club 42, in a filing at the FCC. AT&T responded to additional questions posed by the Wireless Bureau last month (see 1505210018). Parts of the response…
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were redacted. “AT&T’s proposed acquisition of the Club 42 Spectrum does not pose any significant risk of anticompetitive effects, nor would it ‘raise rivals’ costs or foreclose competition such that the ability of rival service providers to offer a competitive response to any potential anticompetitive behavior,” AT&T said. Competitors already have “sufficient spectrum assets -- including low-band spectrum” to compete with AT&T, the carrier said. The spectrum buy also won’t allow AT&T to raise its prices for service or prevent competitors from lowering their prices, AT&T argued. “As the Commission has recognized, the competitors in this market price and advertise services at a national level, and therefore the threat of anticompetitive impact from the acquisition of a single spectrum license in a single county is remote at best.” The licenses were offered for sale through a broker, AT&T said. “Accordingly, other carriers were not ‘foreclosed’ but instead had the same opportunity as AT&T to purchase the Club 42 Licenses.” The filing was posted by the FCC Wednesday in docket 14-145.