One hundred Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives told President Obama in a letter that the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against the AT&T/T-Mobile merger could undermine his efforts to put Americans back to work and achieve a broader recovery in the economy.
“This action by your Administration will thwart job creation and economic growth and undermine your own efforts to achieve our shared goal," stated the letter, whose signers include Joe Barton, the Texas Republican who formerly chaired the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
The lawmakers cited some of the reported benefits of AT&T’s $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA, including the carrier’s plans to deploy fourth-generation services to 97 percent of the U.S. population and “a commitment to repatriate 5,000 T-Mobile call center jobs after completing the merger."
“If your Administration is truly committed to creating jobs, you should let the private sector do so, not erect impediments to job creation based upon a flawed understanding of the competitiveness of the U.S. wireless market," the GOP members asserted in the letter.
The letter indicated that lawmakers would be satisfied if the Justice Department reached a settlement agreement with AT&T over the merger.
COMPTEL, the Washington, D.C.-based trade organization whose members include AT&T’s rival Sprint Nextel, said the merger shouldn’t be influenced by politics at this stage of the game.
“Upon examining the facts of AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile, the Department of Justice, seven attorneys general and several industry stakeholders had clear concerns that the combination of these two companies would substantially lessen competition and have a measurable negative impact on consumers across the country," COMPTEL CEO Jerry James said in a statement. “This matter is now before the federal court and the FCC, and should be decided on solely the legal merits, without political pressure."
