“Antitrust officials may have a hard time buying AT&T’s argument
that it will expand broadband competition and not seek to harm competitors if they find the company is actively working to block new broadband players from entering the markets AT&T already dominates,” said Gene Kimmelman, the president of Public Knowledge, a consumer group, and a former senior antitrust official at the Justice Department, who opposes the merger.
In a Senate hearing in December, AT&T’s chief executive, Randall Stephenson, said AT&T
and Time Warner together could bring new competition to “big cable.”
“Cable still enjoys key advantages in the marketplace,” such as its dominance in cable television and broadband, Mr. Stephenson said at the hearing.
“AT&T consistently supports a legislative agenda that would eliminate consumer choice and deny competitors the ability to invest in broadband
that could bring more choice,” said Todd O’Boyle, a director of Common Cause, a consumer group that supports municipal broadband networks.
