Leaked AT&T Letter Demolishes Case For T-Mobile Merger

[alostpacket]

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https://secure.dslreports.com/shownews/Leaked-ATT-Letter-Demolishes-Case-For-TMobile-Merger-115652

Lawyer Accidentally Decimates AT&T's #1 Talking Point
Yesterday a partially-redacted document briefly appeared on the FCC website --accidentally posted by a law firm working for AT&T on the $39 billion T-Mobile deal (somewhere there's a paralegal looking for work today). While AT&T engaged in damage control telling reporters that the document contained no new information -- our review of the doc shows that's simply not true. Data in the letter undermines AT&T's primary justification for the massive deal, while highlighting how AT&T is willing to pay a huge premium simply to reduce competition and keep T-Mobile out of Sprint's hands.

Let's hope this is enough to block it. I'd miss TMO -- they were the Android originators and I dont think they would have changed the data cap policies if not for the merger.



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[drdoom]

If any judge can say that a Samsung galaxy tab looks like an iPad, I don't have much faith that they will have enough sense to realize that this is just a ploy by AT&T to reduce competition and fatten its wallet. Cellular companies in the US are already borderline monopoly, this merger is going to leave us with two major players, which isn't good. Look at Nvidia and ATI, the two major video card manufacturers, as examples in the computer industry; they were targeted by several class action lawsuits for collaborating to artificially set prices on their products. Verizon already charges an arm, leg, and your first born for a monthly bill; just imagine if they started fixing prices with AT&T.

 

[alostpacket]

Well the fatalist in me agrees with you but the idealist in me thinks my fatalist side is counter productive.

I think the one type of post I see people make that really gets under my skin is a post like

"there is nothing we can do our government is bought and paid for it's a done deal"

(not talking about your post, yours is a bit different)

But I feel like that's defeatism talking and well heck why should companies even bother paying politicians as long as the public wont fight back because they assume they have already lost?

There is always something that can be done.... how effective it can be is certainly an issue.

But if our regulatory bodies are bought and paid for then we need to figure out what to do about that imho.

 

[drdoom]

I'm not saying that people should bend over and take it: more that people's poor choices in governmental figures and monetary desires (read "greed") have lead to this outcome and many others. I'm not saying this can't be changed, but I have very little faith in those able to initiate such change will place the benefit of the greatest number of people over their own wallets. Call me pessimistic.

 

[zuben el genub]

Techmeme had the link up to that paper today.
3. REQUEST:

There's 77 pages of it. Someone posted it on Scribd.