MARCH 22, 2011, 2:23 P.M. ET Sprint CEO Blasts AT&T Deal
By ROGER CHENG Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704461304576216523218739428.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEADTop ORLANDO—Dan Hesse, chief executive of Sprint Nextel Corp., said he's concerned that AT&T Inc.'s plan to takeover rival T-Mobile USA would stifle innovation and hurt consumers. Mr. Hesse, speaking at a roundtable discussion at the CTIA Wireless trade show which featured several jabs between the heads of each carrier, said AT&T and Verizon would control 79% of the market if the deal goes through. "I do have concerns that it would stifle innovation and too much power would be in the hands of two," Mr. Hesse said. His comments elicited applause from the crowd. The roundtable, scheduled months earlier, comes at an awkward time. AT&T upstaged the CTIA Wireless show with its agreement to acquire T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom AG in a blockbuster $39 billion deal, a surprise given many in the industry had their eyes on a potential merger between Sprint and T-Mobile. On Tuesday, AT&T's mobility chief executive, Ralph de la Vega, shared the stage with Messrs. Hesse and Verizon Wireless Chief Executive Daniel Mead. T-Mobile CEO Philipp Humm pulled out of the CEO roundtable after the deal was announced. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse, speaking at the CTIA wireless show, said he's concerned AT&T's plan to take over rival T-Mobile USA would stifle innovation and hurt consumers. Also: the chief of Verizon Wireless says he isn't interested in buying Sprint. Spencer Ante reports on digits. Mr. Hesse wasn't afraid to mix things up. When Mr. de la Vega was asked about what he could do to prevent mobile videos from freezing up, Mr. Hesse interjected, "That's what Verizon's for," drawing laughter from the crowd and semi-shocked reaction from the panelists. On a comment about AT&T's mobile broadband ambitions, Mr. Hesse asked de la Vega, "I thought your team already had 4G?" Mr. Hesse said ultimately his opinion on the deal didn't matter, and that it would be up to regulators to see if the deal is good for consumers. Mr. De la Vega smiled, but didn't bite, instead focusing on defending the merits of the deal. He said it would improve coverage, address the looming spectrum crunch, and bring mobile broadband to more people. The awkwardness extended to the front row of the audience watching the keynote panel, where AT&T and Sprint executives were seated near each other due to a quirk in planning. Verizon Wireless's Mr. Mead said he didn't look at buying T-Mobile USA and isn't interested in buying Sprint. Mr. Mead said he was confident in the company's spectrum position and infrastructure, touting the company's next-generation network. "We're observing what's going on," he said on the sidelines of the CTIA Wireless trade show Tuesday. "We're not going to get distracted by this." Mr. Mead said he believes there's the potential opportunity to scoop up any assets, including spectrum, that could be divested as a result of the merger. He said it was unclear whether the merger would go through, and hesitated to make a call. "I'll leave that to the guys in D.C.," he said. Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704461304576216523218739428.html#ixzz1HMMfBSdi -- ================================================= George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923 Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927 Political Science Mail: antunes at uh dot edu University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-3011 _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
