U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar has lots of questions about how AT&T’s proposed purchase of T-Mobile will affect cell phone users.
And because she serves on both the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees, it seems likely she’ll get some answers to questions she posed to the CEOs of AT&T and T-Mobile in a letter today.
In today’s letter, Klobuchar asks the CEOs:
- How will you ensure that the proposed transaction will not lead to higher prices for consumers?
- What impact will decreased competition in the wireless industry have on practices that impact consumers such as cell phone exclusivity, early termination fees, and bill shock?
- Will AT&T commit to continuing to sell T-Mobile’s lower-priced plans after the merger to all T-Mobile and AT&T customers?
- Will the acquisition of T-Mobile enable AT&T to reach rural parts of the country that AT&T could not reach if it simply entered into data roaming agreements with T-Mobile or other wireless carriers?
- Will AT&T support device interoperability and ensure that devices built to work on AT&T’s future Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks are usable on the LTE networks of other carriers?
- AT&T and Verizon will control 75 percent of the wireless market. Given this concentration, can the wireless market be competitive? If yes, can you articulate any specific level of concentration that would render the wireless market no longer competitive?
- Will AT&T allow existing T-Mobile customers to switch providers without penalty if they do not want service from AT&T?
- Will AT&T offer smaller carriers data roaming agreements at reasonable rates?
- Will AT&T commit to forgo any handset exclusivity agreements with cell phone manufacturers?
- What impact would a potential merger have on T-Mobile employees and will the combined company commit to maintain current employment levels?
She notes that if the sale is approved, AT&T and Verizon would control approximately 75 percent of the entire wireless market, “effectively creating a duopoly and diminishing the possibility that the industry will act on its own to institute pro-consumer practices.”
Earlier, she had asked the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission to look at the proposed deal.
