In any mature market, there comes a point where the biggest players simply are not allowed to get any bigger. The U.S. cable TV industry already ran into that limit, as there recently have been formal market share caps that limit the total number of subscibers (as a percentage of total) that any single contestant can serve. Though those caps were overturned in court, it isn't clear that Comcast or other cable operators really want to test the limits directly. 30% subscriber cap overturned
That might now be the case for the U.S. mobile industry. That would not mean smaller contestants are barred from growth through acquisition, but the DoJ opposition could signal that the crucial tipping point has been reached, and that both AT&T and Verizon Wireless now will face limits on the percentage of U.S wireless customers each can serve.
Here, Department of Justice Acting Assistant Attorney General Sharis A. Pozen talks about rationale for DoJ antitrust finding:
The Antitrust Division conducted an exhaustive investigation. We conducted dozens of interviews of customers and competitors, and we reviewed more than 1 million AT&T and T-Mobile documents.
The conclusion we reached was clear. Any way you look at this transaction, it is anti-competitive. Our action today seeks to ensure that our nation enjoys the competitive wireless industry it deserves.
T-Mobile has been an important source of competition among the national carriers through innovation and quality enhancements. For example, T-Mobile rolled-out the first nationwide high-speed data network using advanced HSPA+ technology and the first handset using the Android operating system. It has also been an important source of price competition in the industry. Unless this merger is blocked, competition and innovation in the mobile wireless market, in the form of low prices and innovative wireless handsets, operating systems, and calling plans, will be diminished—and consumers will suffer.
T-Mobile competes with the other three national providers to attract individual consumers, businesses, and government customers for mobile wireless telecommunications services. They compete on price, plan structure, network coverage, quality, speed, devices, and operating systems. A combination of AT&T and T-Mobile would eliminate this price competition and innovation. It would reduce the number of nationwide competitors in the marketplace from four to three. Eliminating this aggressive competitor, which offers low pricing and innovative products, would hurt consumers, businesses, and government customers that rely on a competitive marketplace to provide them with the best products at the best possible price.
DoJ outlines rationale
Here, Department of Justice Acting Assistant Attorney General Sharis A. Pozen talks about rationale for DoJ antitrust finding:
The Antitrust Division conducted an exhaustive investigation. We conducted dozens of interviews of customers and competitors, and we reviewed more than 1 million AT&T and T-Mobile documents.
The conclusion we reached was clear. Any way you look at this transaction, it is anti-competitive. Our action today seeks to ensure that our nation enjoys the competitive wireless industry it deserves.
T-Mobile has been an important source of competition among the national carriers through innovation and quality enhancements. For example, T-Mobile rolled-out the first nationwide high-speed data network using advanced HSPA+ technology and the first handset using the Android operating system. It has also been an important source of price competition in the industry. Unless this merger is blocked, competition and innovation in the mobile wireless market, in the form of low prices and innovative wireless handsets, operating systems, and calling plans, will be diminished—and consumers will suffer.
T-Mobile competes with the other three national providers to attract individual consumers, businesses, and government customers for mobile wireless telecommunications services. They compete on price, plan structure, network coverage, quality, speed, devices, and operating systems. A combination of AT&T and T-Mobile would eliminate this price competition and innovation. It would reduce the number of nationwide competitors in the marketplace from four to three. Eliminating this aggressive competitor, which offers low pricing and innovative products, would hurt consumers, businesses, and government customers that rely on a competitive marketplace to provide them with the best products at the best possible price.
DoJ outlines rationale
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