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FCC Boss: Blocked T-Mobile Deal Didn't Raise Rates
Shut Down Deal 'Simply Proves That There is a Line'

Earlier this week AT&T boss Randall Stephenson tried to blame the company's skyrocketing wireless prices on their failed bid to takeover T-Mobile, while somehow acknowledging in the very same breath he would have raised rates whether or not the deal was approved. Stephenson also tried to once again insist with a straight face that by eliminating competition from a market -- you magically create more competition, one of several bizarre falsehoods Stephenson pushed in the failed effort to acquire T-Mobile.

In a speech at the CTIA trade show this week, FCC boss Julius Genachowski refuted AT&T's claims, particularly the idea that more competitors was a bad thing and lead to less efficient use of spectrum (one of Stephenson's other bizarre claims). Genachowski went on to note that the blocked deal "simply proves that there is a line," which is good since with the revolving door between government and industry -- many were starting to wonder if such a line actually existed. Says Genachowski:
quote:
At its core, the argument – that competition is bad for consumers – is at odds with basic free-market principles. As a society, we’ve staked our economy on the proposition that competition doesn’t lead to higher prices for the same product, but to lower prices and more valuable services.
The fact that you've got the nation's largest telco and biggest telecom regulator arguing about whether eliminating competition creates competition says plenty about the quality of modern telecom discourse.