FCC Doesn’t Buy AT&T Claim That T-Mobile Merger Will Create Jobs

AT&T has recently claimed that a merger with T-Mobile would create upwards of 96,000 jobs, a statement that FCC Wireless Bureau leader Rick Kaplan casts doubts about.

According to Kaplan AT&T officials have done “almost nothing in response” to calls for proof regarding their jobs claim. In terms of what AT&T has promised they would only create 5,000 low-level call center jobs by returning them from offshore call centers to the United States.

A study by several advocacy groups with the endorsement of Sprint Wireless recently pointed out that almost all mergers have resulted in job cuts as company’s look to eliminate overlapping jobs while attempting to earn back the money they spent to make the merger a reality. In fact AT&T called for “synergies” when announcing the merger, a term that typically means cost-cutting measures will be taken, often in the form of job loss.

In the meantime the Department of Justice has sued AT&T to block the merger, arguing that it is anti-competitive while the FCC may also follow suit and reject the merger.

As Electronista points out:

“AT&T may have sabotaged its own case after an unintentionally unredacted FCC filing revealed an internal estimate that it only needs $3.8 billion to reach its 95 to 97 percent LTE coverage claims, not $39 billion and eliminating a major competitor.”

I can’t possible understand how eliminating one of the four largest wireless company’s in American can be good for customers. Do you believe the AT&T/T-Mobile merger is anti-competitive and bad for the cellular industry in general?