AT&T and T-Mobile are at it again, defending their stance on the would be merger, pending an official decision. AT&T’s Wayne Watts continues to suggest that the merger is on track to be approved by Mach 2012, no matter the outcry from competitors and individuals. Tom Sugrue, T-Mobile’s Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, was even reported as saying:
“The opponents of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger have had their final say as part of the FCC’s formal pleading cycle and, not surprisingly, they have failed to offer any credible arguments to support their view that the Commission should deny the transaction. What is surprising, however, is their repeated head-in-the-sand insistence that no spectrum crisis exists. As part of their application, AT&T and T-Mobile provided a compelling showing of their need for more spectrum to continue to provide quality service to customers and roll out new technologies in the future. And the two companies have demonstrated that a combination of their networks and spectrum holdings is by far the best way to solve this problem and ensure improved service and enhanced innovation. The FCC has long acknowledged the harmful consequences of ignoring the spectrum crunch, and we are confident it will approve our proposed market-based solution.”
I won’t deny that a spectrum crisis exists, but I certainly think that the proposed merger creates more problems than it solves. This merger sure is getting interesting. What say you, loyal T-Mobile fans?