@jbtaylor on tech

I'm a spokesman for Sprint. This personal site is where I share news stories and my views about our company, our phones and other devices. I also write a bit about tech policy, the wireless industry and life in Washington, D.C.

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AT&T to Consumers: Delayed 4G is "responsible and customer friendly"

I've just begun to read through AT&T and Deutsche Telekom's latest FCC filing related to AT&T's bid to takeover T-Mobile. As I discover little nuggets worth sharing, I'll post them here.

This morning, I spit out my coffee when I read on page 40 of their reply comments to various "Petitions to Deny" the merger their latest claims about 4G.

You see, in AT&T's world, anyone who critizes them is "way off base". While they admit that AT&T has delayed rolling out 4G, in AT&T's world, that's only because the company is "responsible and customer friendly."

That's right, the company admits it's warehousing billions of dollars of spectrum and in doing so it's being, "responsible and customer friendly."

I guess that means that Verizon, Metro PCS, Clearwire and Sprint who offer 4G services that consumers demand are being irresponsible and unfriendly.

Maybe that's why tens of thousands of consumers have asked the FCC to reject this stinker of a deal.

To read it for yourself, go to this link and click on the link called "Joint Opposition (235)". Then go to page 40 and giggle with me over paragraph 2.

That's all for now.

I'm going to start looking for AT&T's references to how terrified that are of that competitive force driving the wireless industry: Cincinnati Bell.

Louisiana Regulators Vote 4-1 to Review T-Mobile Takeover

Media_httpfarm5static_boowz
via flickr.com

Earlier this week, the Louisiana Public Service Commission voted 4-1 to open a regulatory docket to review AT&T's bid to takeover T-Mobile.

In an interview with Bloomberg News, Louisiana Public Commissioner Foster Campbell said, "It’s too big a deal to let it go through without getting everybody’s questions answered, and making sure this is a good deal for the consumer."

AT&T for its part, argued unsuccessfully against such a review.

Of course this is a pattern with AT&T. Their lobbyists are working overtime to convince state regulators that they shouldn't weigh in. They don't want anyone to ask them any questions.

The action isn't limited to Louisiana, though.

Today Sprint filed documents in San Francisco calling on the California Public Utility Commission to open an investigation into the transaction. We also responded in West Virginia to AT&T's ridiculous assertion that we had no right to call for a hearing there because we don't operate a 4G network in the state. (They also criticized Sprint because our workers have not chosen to affiliate with a union.)

We said in part that West Virginia regulators “should not be distracted by the sideshow AT&T has presented.”

Our filing went on to say that we think that the proceeding in West Virginia is not about Sprint, but that it, "is about consumers, innovation, competition and the future of the wireless market in West Virginia,”

p.s. The photo of this post is one I took in New Orleans last year in Jackson Square. You can just make out the statue of Andrew Jackson, the hero of the Battle of New Orleans and a former President of the U.S. Jackson was a president who believed in listening to the public. He once famously said, "You are a den of vipers and theives. I intend to rout you out, and by eternal God, I will rout you out."

For the record, he was not referring to AT&T as the company had not yet been formed. His remarks were aimed at those seeking to establish a banking monopoly. I can only imagine what Jackson would think about AT&T's bid to takeover T-Mobile -- for that matter, cell phones in general.

 

 

Wireless Company CEOs, Labor Union Official and Consumer Advocate Called to Testify on AT&T's Bid to Takeover T-Mobile

Here is some hot of the presses scoop. The Senate Antitrust Committee has announced the witness list for the May 11 hearing on AT&T's bid to takeover T-Mobile.

 

The hearing title tells you what the Subcommitte Chairman's questions are: “The AT&T/T-Mobile Merger: Is Humpty Dumpty Being Put Back Together Again?”

The hearing will be held at 10:15 a.m. ET, Wednesday, May 11, 2011, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 226 in Washington, D.C.

 

Here are the witnesses:

  • Randall L. Stephenson, President & CEO, AT&T
  • Philipp Humm, President & CEO, T-Mobile USA
  • Daniel R. Hesse, CEO, Sprint Nextel Corporation
  • Victor H. “Hu” Meena, President & CEO, Cellular South, Inc.
  • Gigi Sohn, President & Co-Founder, Public Knowledge
  • Larry Cohen, President, Communications Workers of America
In the comments section on this post, leave the questions you would ask if you were a Senator on the subcommittee. And if you're coming let me know... I'd love to see you in person.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Julius: Please Stop the T-Mobile Takeover

Media_httpfarm3static_bqseg
via flickr.com

In my last post, I pointed our a few blogs that had called on readers to contact Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the FCC and demand that the Commission block AT&T from taking over T-Mobile.

I just did another search and came up with quite a few more posts with that message.

A few more have stopped short of encouraging you to comment one way or another about the takeover -- they simply point out how to contact the FCC.

If you find a blog calling on readers to ask the FCC to approve AT&T's plans, please let me know. The only blog with anything close to that message that I can find is, well, um... AT&T's. As of this writing, even AT&T isn't asking people to contact the FCC on their behalf. 

 

 

 

T-Mobile Customers Mobilize, as May 31 FCC Deadline Looms

I've worked in Washington on and off for a long time. Regardless of where they stand on the ideological spectrum, I assure you, politicians of all stripes respond to real people weighing in on a public policy issue. Washington is filled with political consultants who, for a price, will organize fake grassroots efforts to generate calls to Congress and the like.

These efforts may be effective, but honestly in my view, politicians pay more attention the real thing.

It's been only a few days since the FCC announced that the public had until May 31 to make its views known about AT&T's takeover of T-Mobile, but already several efforts have launched across the Internet which ask readers to file formal comments at the FCC in the docket.

From what I can tell, these efforts are organic and not manufactured by consumer groups or others opposed to this transaction. Here's a sample of blog headlines:

Consumers are responding.

Last night, Communications Daily, a trade publication focused on the FCC, wrote in their lead story that the Commission, "is starting to get some "grassroots" push back against AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile, with several dozen consumers filing short statements in recent days."

You can check these comments out for yourself here. As of this writing, over 100 real people have weighed in.

If you want to join them and file your own comments, you have until May 31. In this blog post, I explain step-by-step how to do that. (The FCC doesn't make it easy, but I've tried to.)

 

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