Comments to FCC Needed

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from the color of change.org

AT&T wants to buy T-Mobile — and it could have huge, negative consequences, especially for Black Americans.
The deal is likely to destroy jobs1, raise the price of cellular service2, and threaten net neutrality for wireless high-speed Internet.3 Net neutrality is the principle that prevents large corporations from marginalizing voices they disagree with or that get in the way of their profits. It's critical for groups like ColorOfChange that challenge the political and corporate status quo. Protecting net neutrality for wireless broadband is increasingly important as more and more people use their phones to access the Internet, especially African Americans.4
Monday is the deadline for public comment with the FCC, and several prominent civil rights groups — many of whom have deep relationships with AT&T — have lined up in support of the merger, promoting misleading arguments, whether conscious of the fact or not.5
It’s why your voice is critical. The FCC needs to hear from Black folks and our allies of every race who understand the problems with this deal. Please join us in calling on the FCC to block AT&T's merger with T-Mobile:
http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/att

Getting rid of the competition
AT&T has said that "The wireless marketplace will become more competitive" because of this merger — but that's the exact opposite of what’s likely to happen. If AT&T merges with T-Mobile, it will mean even less competition in an industry that is already dominated by just four big companies.6 AT&T and T-Mobile are the second and fourth largest wireless companies. If they merge, it will mean that the two largest remaining companies — AT&T and Verizon — will control nearly 80% of the wireless market.7
The reduced competition is likely to have serious consequences:

• Higher prices for everyone. T-Mobile is currently one of the most affordable options for wireless service, and AT&T is significantly more expensive. This merger would eliminate one of the most affordable cellular providers. But prices wouldn't just go up for T-Mobile customers.8 Because T-Mobile would no longer be competing with AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint, there would be less pressure on the remaining companies to keep their prices down.9
• Worse service, less innovation. With less competition [[and less of a need to attract and retain customers) cellular providers will have less incentive to invest in improving their services and developing new technologies. On top of that, AT&T has a bad track record when it comes to good service — they were rated the worst wireless carrier by Consumer Reports last year.10
• A grave threat to net neutrality. Net neutrality has guided the Internet's operation since it began. It guarantees that information you put online is treated the same as anyone else's information in terms of its basic ability to travel across the Internet. It's the reason the Internet is so diverse — and so powerful. .. Net neutrality is what’s allowed groups like ColorOfChange to speak freely, without corporate gatekeepers or censors — unlike what we see with radio and TV. If AT&T and T-Mobile are allowed to merge, net neutrality will be at even greater risk — two companies that are hostile to net neutrality [[AT&T and Verizon) will dominate wireless Internet access. They'll have no serious competitors, and no effective government regulation to hold them accountable.

False and deceptive arguments
The main argument put forth by civil rights organizations supporting the merger has been that it would help close the digital divide by allowing AT&T to speed up its deployment of high-speed wireless Internet service. We completely agree with the need to increase the availability of broadband, but allowing AT&T to take over T-Mobile won’t help — in fact, it’s likely to hurt it.
Let's take a look at two of the core claims made by AT&T and the civil rights organizations supporting this merger:
Claim: The merger is needed to help expand affordable high-speed mobile Internet access. AT&T says that it doesn’t currently have a big enough slice of the airwaves [[known as “spectrum”) that can be used to broadcast wireless signals, and that by acquiring T-Mobile and its spectrum AT&T will be able to more quickly deploy its next-generation broadband wireless network.
The reality: AT&T does not need to merge with T-Mobile to provide faster Internet access and the merger will likely increase the cost of wireless service. The truth is that AT&T already has lots of spectrum that it’s not using and does not need to merge with T-Mobile to roll out faster mobile Internet access. AT&T hasn’t invested enough in making better use of the spectrum it has;11 instead it has focused on acquiring other wireless companies. And with less competition, AT&T — and all other wireless Internet providers — will likely decrease their investment in their networks, if history is any indicator. AT&T itself has said that this merger will allow it to avoid investing in its networks...

Claim: The merger will be good for workers, especially African Americans and Latinos. They point to the fact that AT&T has a good record of diversity in hiring and contracting, and the fact that AT&T is unionized, while T-Mobile has been anti-union.
The Reality: These issues have nothing to do with the merits of the merger. It's true that AT&T has a good diversity record. It's also true that AT&T's workforce is unionized, while T-Mobile has been harshly anti-union. And AT&T should be applauded for their commitment to diversity in hiring. But AT&T’s record doesn't mean that this merger will be good for consumers, our communities, or even workers — the most likely impact on workers is that thousands will be laid off. AT&T claims the merger will create jobs. But mergers almost always lead to layoffs, as the merging companies seek to eliminate redundant jobs — and there's no reason to expect this merger will be any different.
Civil rights groups backing AT&T
In order to shift focus away from the facts regarding the serious impact of the deal on marginalized communities, AT&T is trying to show the FCC that civil rights groups support the merger. They are running a campaign to get non-profit organizations, especially groups that represent people of color, to support the deal...


How we can make a difference
The FCC has to decide whether to approve this merger, and it's taking public comments until June 20th. We can't let those with financial ties to AT&T be the only voices heard. If enough of us speak out now, we can make it clear that these groups and individuals don't speak for us, while letting the FCC know that Black Americans and our allies are against this merger.
Please join us in calling on the FCC to deny the AT&T/T-Mobile merger: