The CompTel/ASCENT Alliance, which lobbies on behalf of CLECs, said consumers should expect to see the cost of wireless and landline phone services rise by $3 billion annually if the merger of Cingular and AT&T Wireless is approved. CompTel/ASCENT predicts that prices of both wireless and landline telephony services to rise because of the enhanced market power that will be wielded by the combined wireless company and its majority owners, BellSouth and SBC Communications.
CompTel/ASCENT noted that Cingular and AT&T Wireless are the second- and third-largest mobile telecom carriers, respectively, and together serve 40% of the U.S. mobile market. This is 10 percentage points more than the current largest mobile carrier, Verizon Wireless. Post-merger, a total of 70% of all wireless subscribers in the U.S. will be in the hands of monopoly landline carriers Verizon, BellSouth and SBC.
CompTel/ASCENT is urging the FCC and the U.S. Department of Justice to impose conditions on the proposed merger in order to mitigate some of the “anticompetitive” effects. http://www.comptelascent.org
