@jbtaylor on tech

This week, the FCC sent a firmly worded letter to AT&T, demanding the company substantiate the claims that it, Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobile have repeatedly made which say that AT&T's proposed takeover of T-Mobile will create jobs.

In other words, the FCC is calling out AT&T for its B.S. as well they should.

In response, late today, AT&T issued another PR statement which touted this promise that the company will relocate 5,000 foreign call center jobs to the U.S., but only if the transaction is approved.

Every time they make that statement, I'm reminded of what one government official said in response to that news when it was first announced:

"We should distinguish between patriotism and extortion."

I couldn't agree more.

In this case, if AT&T wanted to bring these jobs back to the U.S. they could do so today. This is simply a cynical ploy by a company desperate to make a big deal which will be great for AT&T shareholders, but screw everybody else.

That said, I agree that this proposed transaction has created jobs and as the title of this post suggests, they all belong to lobbyists, investment bankers and antitrust lawyers -- and also the PR people who have advised the company that repeating discredited and false claims about jobs being created is a smart strategy.

AT&T can do better and so can the American people.

p.s. Please remember that this is my personal blog and that these views do not reflect the views of my employer.

Earlier today, I helped host a news conference with Professor David Neumark of University of California, Irvine. Mr. Neumark presented a study commissioned by Sprint which debunked the claims that both AT&T and CWA have made surrounding AT&T's proposed takeover of T-Mobile.

The chart above sums up a key point: in 8 of the last nine years AT&T has eliminated jobs -- over 100,000 jobs in fact. While in that same time period, T-Mobile has created jobs.

The study -- which is an easy read for a non-economist -- shows what critics have said all along -- the T-Mobile takeover is a jobs killer.

Take a look for yourself. Here's the news release describing the study and here's the study itself.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn) at a recent Senate hearing on AT&T's bid to takeover T-Mobile said it best:

"I believe it's going to raise prices for American families and may cost thousands of jobs."

The Senator goes on to question the CEOs from AT&T, T-Mobile, Cellular South and Sprint in the hearing. It's worth a view.

The Senator seems to be completely in step with his constituents on this. As of this writing, Over 900 Minnesotans from across the state have weighed in on the proposed T-Mobile takeover, almost everyone doing so is opposed to AT&T.